Stand Alone Scarecrow
by Chirichi916
Summary: Iruka finds himself lonely without Naruto's antics to keep him occupied, but seeks solace, and any news on his former student, from Naruto's second Sensei, Kakashi. What begins as a late Ramen lunch develops into something more.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fan-fic so please review!  
I know this first chapter is kinda slow to get started, but I'm still getting used to the whole keeping someone else's characters "in character" all the time.  
It's harder than I thought it'd be!

Also, I do not own Naruto or any characters there-in, nor am I making any monetary profit from this. (Just writing experience!)

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-Stand Alone Scarecrow-

-1-

Spring flitted into Konoha and the warming weather was making his students more restless than usual. In a great display of benevolence, brought on mostly by a building pressure behind his temples, Iruka-sensei dismissed class early, and half-smiled to himself as the young nin stampeded into the sunshine.

_Perhaps a bit of fresh air and sunshine will do me some good too…_ he thought to himself as he gathered up his papers and shoved them into his bag for later grading. He stood and stretched, then picked up his bag and set off through the streets of Konoha.

Iruka breathed deeply of the freshly scented air, and set off through Konoha's busy streets. Letting his feet guide him as the warm sun melted the stress from his shoulders. His mind began to wander and he found his thoughts drifting to the yellow-haired hellion who'd once terrorized his classroom. He smiled fondly as his memory dredged up images of an orange jumpsuit sitting next to him in Ichiraku's Ramen bar, slurping down bowls like a stray dog half-crazed from starvation.

_I wonder how Naruto's faring with Jiraiya…_

He sighed and turned away from such thoughts. The fact that he missed Naruto's excessively energetic presence was no secret, and certainly not something he was ashamed of. But dwelling on his former students' absence did little to fill the void that had formed when the boy had left to continue his training.

Iruka was unsurprised when he found his feet had carried him to Konoha's memorial.

_How long has it been since I last visited this place?_ He wondered as he started up the hill, but froze when he noticed the thin silver-haired figure, standing still and silent as a scarecrow.

_Kakashi!? I didn't realize he was back… I probably shouldn't bother him._

Iruka turned back towards the village, but the Jonin was already heading down in front of him.

_Wha!?_

Iruka turned to look back over his shoulder at the vacant hilltop.

"Kakashi-sensei!" he heard himself call out

Kakashi paused, and leaned back over his shoulder, managing to make even that small gesture look as languid as possible.

"Yo." His eye crinkling in a smile

Suddenly Iruka found himself with nothing to say, "I... I didn't mean to disturb you." He said lamely. "I didn't realize anyone would be here."

Kakashi shrugged, "I was leaving anyway." Then he paused, "But isn't it a bit early in the afternoon for you to be here? Iruka-sensei."

Iruka felt a slight heat rise to his cheeks, "Ah… class dismissed early this afternoon."

Kakashi chuckled, "Too nice a day to be locked inside with a pack of raging demons, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka shook his head, "I love my students! But today… Well… I think we were all… a bit restless."

Kakashi's eye crinkled in a lopsided smile again, then with a two fingered wave turned to walk away again.

"Umm… Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi turned again, his visible eyebrow arched slightly in curiosity.  
He'd barely spoken to Iruka since he'd entered Team 7 in the Chunin Exams.

"If you're not busy later, Kakashi-sensei… Perhaps, you'd like to join me for some Ramen?"

Kakashi watched him for a moment, then nodded.

"Alright… but it's your treat."

Iruka chuckled wryly "My treat then."

Kakashi's shambling stride fell in step beside him as they made their way through the village to Ichiraku's Ramen Bar. Neither said a word until they'd seated themselves at the counter and ordered their food.

"Have you heard anything…"

"About Naruto." Kakashi finished, having already guessed what the other would ask.

Iruka nodded

"No."

Iruka sighed, and thanked Teuchi as he served them their bowls and sake.

Kakashi turned away to shovel down his food. "You really miss that delinquent."

"Don't you?" Iruka asked,

Kakashi turned back and found himself struck by the open honesty in that deep brown gaze.

He let his eye fall to his now empty bowl with a rueful chuckle, "Yeah... Sometimes."

Iruka laughed, "It sounds strange to say it, but… it's almost… too quiet around here without him."

"What about Konohamaru?" Kakashi asked, sipping sake through his mask

Iruka smiled, "Konohamaru certainly has his moments… but there's only one Naruto."

"Thank Kami for that." Kakashi snorted

Iruka froze a moment, and then burst into laughter.

Kakashi felt the corner of his mouth twitch and found himself unable to fight the grin that quickly developed into chuckle. Iruka's laugh continued to build, sweeping Kakashi along until both nin sat laughing uncontrollably.

As their laughter finally subsided, Iruka wiped away a tear and reached into his pocket to dig out his money when Kakashi threw down a bill,

"I'll get it." He smiled

"But I thought today was my treat?"

"You can pay next time."

"Are… are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you. Kakashi-sensei."

"Yeah."

With another two-fingered wave, Kakashi turned and shambled off down the street. Iruka watched him until he turned a corner, then slipped his bag over his shoulder and headed towards his own home.

_I haven't laughed like that since Naruto's last birthday…_ He chuckled again, and raised a hand to shield his eyes as he looked towards the late afternoon sun, "What a nice day."

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As I metioned before, this is my first fan-fic, so please review! I'll try to upload more (eventful) chapters in the near future!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two – Enter Gai! What would Kakashi be without his "eternal rival" around to harass him?

Disclaimer – I do not own Naruto, nor any characters there-in and seek no monetary gain. This endeavor is purely for amusement purposes and all rights belong to their respective copyright owners.

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-Stand Alone Scarecrow-

-2-

Iruka threaded his way through the streets, stopping now and again to exchange a word or two with a student or parent. Then climbed the stairs and quickly undid the wards locking his apartment.

He stepped inside and slipped out of his sandals. His eyes casting quickly over the sparsely furnished room, coming to rest, as they always did, on the dolphin plushie Anko had seen fit to give him for his birthday several years ago. He moved to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water, then set his bag on the table and pulled out the essays he'd had his students turn in as they were leaving.

Konohamaru's sat on top; Iruka grimaced slightly at the almost hieroglyphical chicken scratch scrawled across the page. With a sigh of practiced patience, he took a sip of his water and fished around for his correction pen to begin the tedious editing of student papers.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Kakashi shambled along the street, his nose buried in the latest installation of Jiraiya's "Icha Icha" series as he skillfully sidestepped around vendors and fellow ninja.

Suddenly he felt a familiar prickle on the back of his neck and tucking away his book, slipped quietly into a nearby alley. The copy nin stood a moment back pressed against the wall, dark uniform one with the late afternoon shadows, he felt his pursuer drawing nearer. His eyes darted about the empty alleyway, coming to rest on a large green dumpster. Swiftly and silently he ducked inside the empty bin, grateful his mask guarded against the lingering smell of rot and refuse.

The top of the dumpster flew backwards,  
and there...  
clad in all his spandex glory...  
stood Gai, balancing effortlessly on the dumpsters rim, as he struck his infamous 'good guy' pose.

Kakashi blinked against the blinding brightness of his stalker's smile.

"What a fine and youthful day this is, my eternal rival! I see you are employed in the youthful activity of investigating Konoha's garbage bins! I have come to issue a challenge to you my trendy comrade!"

Kakashi suppressed a groan and hopped out of the dumpster to escape the stench that had begun to permeate his mask. Gai remained balanced on the edge, but turned to remain facing Kakashi, lest the copy-nin attempt to sneak away.

"Are you prepared, cool rival, to hear what my challenge is!"

Kakashi pulled out his 'Icha Icha' and sidled towards the alley's exit.

Gai flipped off the dumpster to land in front of him,

"Do not depart so hastily my hip friend! You have yet to hear my challenge!"

Kakashi sighed in defeat, and let his book fall away from in front of his face. He fixed his one eyed gaze in a lazy stare at the abnormally white grin of Konoha's "Green Beast".

"I challenge you and a partner of your choosing to a youthful game of tug-of-war! And should you defeat me I will hop 600 laps around Konoha on my left foot!"

Kakashi sighed again, failing to understand the self-imposed punishments Gai heaped upon himself whenever he lost.

He gave a half-hearted nod, and sidled past Gai, burying his face in his book again.

"The execution of this challenge will commence at noon tomorrow!" Gai called after him as Kakashi weaved his way through the crowd.

In his hurry to distance himself from Gai, Kakashi found himself wandering back past Ichiraku's ramen bar and in the direction Iruka had taken earlier.

He paused a moment, then shrugged.  
He'd ask Iruka to be his partner in Gai's team-tug-of-war-challenge tomorrow.

Kakashi tucked 'Icha Icha' into his pocket and mounted the steps, hesitating at Iruka's door.

_Why…_he wondered…_should I feel nervous?_

He shrugged it off, and rapped on the stout door. His pulse quickened slightly as he heard Iruka stirring within. The door opened and the surprised school-teacher stood staring at him,

"Kakashi-sensei?!" Iruka stammered, but recovered quickly, though his easy blush lingered on his cheeks, "What brings you here?" he moved aside, motioning for Kakashi to enter.

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei." Kakashi nodded as he slipped through and stepped out of his sandals.

Iruka closed the door behind him. "Can I offer you something to…" the darker man's nose suddenly wrinkled, "Kakashi-sensei… Why… Why do you smell like a dumpster?"

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I hope you enjoyed chapter two!

I'm still struggling to keep everyone in character so if I've slipped up in some atrocious way, please let me know!

I'll try to be quick on the updates, I know how much it sucks having to wait, but I've got Finals in two weeks so I beg that you be patient with me!

Once again, this is my first fan-fic so reviews are really appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

It's means a lot to me that you take the time to comment on my work!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor any character's there-in, all rights belong solely to their respective copyright holders and this fan-fic is for entertainment purposes only, with no monetary benefit to be gained from said fic.

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-Stand Alone Scarecrow-

-3-

"Kakashi-sensei… Why… Why do you smell like a dumpster?"

* * * *

"Ah ha ha…" Kakashi gave a rueful chuckle as he sheepishly scratched his spiky silver hair "Would you believe I was…"  
_How had Gai put it?_  
" 'Employed in the youthful activity of investigating Konoha's garbage bins?' "

Iruka chuckled and nodded knowingly, Gai's one-sided rivalry with Kakashi was hardly a secret. "I suppose that does explain things… Umm… Did you want to shower, or…" He faltered, his discomfort poorly disguised beneath the polite smile he kept etched across his face.

"The roof?"

"What?"

"I was suggesting that we continue our conversation on the roof? The air is less… confined…"

"Oh! Of course!" Iruka's relief washed across his face and his politely forced smile dissolved into a much more natural grin. "I'll bring up tea."

Kakashi slipped back into his sandals and quickly scaled to Iruka's roof. He seated himself on the downwind edge and lay back against the shingles, surprised to find them still warm from the afternoon's sun. As he watched the sky over Konoha darken, he listened to sounds of Iruka moving below and chided himself for being foolish enough to think he could dodge Gai by hiding in a dumpster. _Dumpster diving… that's something an idiot like Naruto would pull… Stupid… But... It's not like I can outrun him? Gai's a lunatic..._

Iruka appeared silently over the edge of the roof. Kakashi sat up and accepted the cup offered to him,

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei"

"You're welcome." Iruka smiled as he seated himself and took a sip from his own cup, "Am I correct in assuming that your presence here has something to with… this new hobby you've acquired?"

Kakashi grinned sheepishly, then cut straight to the point, "Gai's latest 'youthful challenge' is a two-on-two tug-of-war tomorrow. I was hoping to enlist you for my team."

Iruka's eyes widened slightly in surprise, and Kakashi found himself pleased to see the blush rise to Chunin's cheeks again.

"Um… Thank you, but… are you sure? Wouldn't Sakura-chan be a better choice? Under Tsunade's tutelage she has become… unusually strong."

Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly, downing the last of his tea and flopping backwards onto the warm tiles again. "Ah… but Sakura is busy with her training, and I'd probably have to get Tsunade's permission to borrow her for the afternoon, and Sakura…"

Iruka chuckled "is Sakura… I understand."

Kakashi's eye crinkled in a grateful smile

"I'd be happy to assist you in your 'youthful challenge'."

Kakashi sat up, "Great! Thank you, Iruka-sensei. Noon tomorrow."

Iruka nodded, "I hope I don't disappoint you."

Kakashi shrugged as he rose to his feet, "Ah… The only one who takes these 'challenges' seriously is Gai."

Iruka chuckled, "Where is this 'challenge' to take place at?"

Kakashi scratched his head, "Come to think of it, he didn't say? Gai always seems to just find me…" he inwardly groaned at the admittance of that fact. "I'll meet you here?"

Iruka nodded and took the cup from Kakashi, his fingers brushing against the paler man's as his did so. Kakashi's breath hitched at the contact, and Iruka's cheeks flushed deeply.

"I'll… uh… go home and shower then." Kakashi said quickly, as he turned away he gave his usual two-fingered wave over his shoulder and dropped down onto Konoha's shadowed streets.

"Right…" Iruka said softly from the deserted rooftop, the coolness of Kakashi's skin still lingered on his fingertips.

_Why… _he wondered, _am I so disappointed to see him leave?_

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_I know these chapters are kinda short, but I mostly write them between classes. So I only get like an hour at a time to work on them, and my evenings are mostly devoted to homework soo... Please grant me your patience! I promise to do my best! _

_I'm still very much struggling with keeping everyone in character, especially since I really DON'T KNOW how Kakashi or Iruka would act in this situation? (As far as I know there isn't any dumpster diving in Naruto?) But, if I've botched it in some way that you find offensively OOC Please let me know! _

_Despite the fact that I am writing this for (mostly my own entertainment) while juggling school-work, it is still my endeavor to put out a quality piece of work, and so your reviews and suggestions are all greatly appreciated! _


	4. Chapter 4

So sorry about the wait on this chapter!

Usual disclaimer – Naruto etc. are not mine, this is a non-profit, for-fun work. All ownership belongs to the copyright holders yada yada yada…

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Stand Alone Scarecrow

-4-

Iruka woke early the next morning, showered, ate and was waiting for Kakashi by 11:30.

_Maybe I'm being too eager…_ he thought to himself, _I'll get some grading done while I wait…_ He fished out his correction pen and continued grading the essays where he'd left off the night before, his eyes darting to the clock far more often then he cared to admit.

Noon came…

and went…

Iruka glared at the clock that now read 12:45 and set aside the last essay.

_Stay calm Iruka…_ he thought to himself… _You don't know what Kakashi's circumstances are…_ "Dammit! How could anyone be this late…" he growled, standing sharply as his iron grip snapped the correction pen, spraying red ink across his face and neck. With a yelp of surprise he tripped over the chair and tumbled to the floor.

"Ow…" he muttered as he lay staring up at his ceiling…

Just then his door flew open, and Kakashi entered with a bound, his visible eye wide with… _was it panic?_

"Iruka!!" Kakashi froze, Iruka lay on the floor, his neck slit, the blood sprayed across his face. The dark-skinned teacher's dead eyes glaring at him from the floor…

_wait… _

_Glaring!? _

"You're late." The school teacher growled, as he untangled his legs from the chair.

"I... uh…" Kakashi moved his head to the side as a small projectile flew at his face. He turned to examine the correction pen. The tip had embedded itself a good quarter inch into the wall, and the lower half dangled limply, held to the rest only by the bar-code sticker taped to the side.

_I suppose this accounts for the blood…_ Kakashi allowed himself a small sigh of relief.

"I had no idea grading papers was so… exciting…" he smiled

Iruka had plenty of practice with students trying to dodge his questions and wasn't about to let Kakashi's tactical change of subject slide.

The shorter man stopped just inches from Kakashi's face, piercing him with the glare that haunted the nightmares of every young nin in Konoha.

Kakashi's attempts at disarming smile wilted only slightly under the powerful glare of his "'teammate'".

"You're late." Iruka growled again,

"Ah ha ha…I don't suppose you'd believe I got lost on the road of life?" Kakashi smiled dodging the fist Iruka sent flying at his head.

"What kind of idiot would believe a clichéd excuse like that!?" Iruka roared, his kick blocked by a still smiling Kakashi.

"I helped an old lady cross the street?"

"Try again!" Iruka's kick was once again blocked by the silver haired ninja.

"I rescued a young girl's kitten from a tree."

"Did Naruto teach you to make up excuses? Stop treating me like I'm some kind of idiot!"

Kakashi's grin widened at that, even team 7 hadn't bought those excuses. His smile only made Iruka more angry, and he barely managed to catch the next punch Iruka threw at him. _I should probably stop teasing him… If I make him TOO angry, he won't help me with Gai's stupid challenge. _Kakashi released Iruka's captured arm, his grey suddenly serious he confessed softly,

"I was visiting the monument and lost track of time. I apologize, Iruka-sensei."

The anger burning in Iruka's eyes vanished instantly, and Kakashi looked away quickly. _I don't want your sympathy…_ he thought, cursing himself for revealing the true reason for his chronic tardiness.

But when Iruka's gaze didn't shift, Kakashi found himself forced to meet those chocolate brown eyes once more. What he found surprised him. Iruka's endlessly deep gaze wasn't filled with pity, as he had feared, just… understanding. _Of course… _Kakashi chided himself… _this is a man who understands loneliness, perhaps even more deeply than I do. And even knowing the pain of loss, he still allows himself something left to lose. _

"Apology accepted" Iruka smilled, breaking Kakashi out of his monologue.

"huh?"

"Shall we go? I believe I can sense Gai-sensei's chakra on my roof."

Kakashi scowled, _How could I have been so preoccupied with Iruka that I didn't even notice GAI'S arrival!? _He shuddered, _I need to get out of Konoha immediately if my skills are rusting this fast. _He made a mental note to go speak to Tsunade as soon as Gai's challenge finished. Then reluctantly followed Iruka out onto the roof.

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Like I said at the top, I'm REALLY sorry about the wait on this chapter! It's been like, super-crazy for me these past few weeks. Myrtle Beach, where my grandpa lives, decided to catch on fire and he had to evacuate his house, which fortunately, did NOT burn down.  
Then two tornado's decided to meander past my hometown and one of them made a direct hit on my boyfriends farm. The house is fine, but, except for one wall, the barn is Completely SMASHED and one of the sheep got killed. Poor Sheepy.

And then I had Finals.

Gah!!!

Super-crazy, but the good news is I'm back now and will hopefully be updating about once a week. Although I've started working on the actual tug-of-war battle, so hopefully I'll get that up later today.

And for anyone who was bothered by the fact that Kakashi just TOTALLY barged into Iruka's house without knocking, (it bothers me.) I'll address that in the next entry.

Also I'm a little worried that perhaps these guys might be slipping a little OOC? Perhaps it's impossible to take two (presumably straight) characters and throw them into a yaoi without slipping a little, but I'm trying to keep everyone in line.

I love hearing from you, so thanks to all who review!


	5. Chapter 5

As always, I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Fan-made-non-profit-for-fun etc. etc.

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As Iruka had predicted, Gai was indeed waiting on the roof, already set in his 'good-guy' pose, they were momentarily blinded by the insane whiteness of his smile.

"Good morning my youthful comrades! What a glorious day for-"

"Iruka-sensei what happened to you!?" a voice blurted out from behind Gai.

As the dark spots caused by the sun reflecting off Gai's teeth blinked out their vision, the pink haired nin to whom the familiar voice belonged came into focus.

"Sakura-chan!?" Iruka sputtered, _Strange. I fully expected Gai to bring Lee along as his partner…_

"Iruka-sensei took it upon himself to defeat a menacing correction pen." Kakashi grinned.

"Ah ha ha ha! What a glorious day for such a youthful activity!"

_Dear Kami…is he serious!? He really IS a lunatic…_ Iruka thought, giving Gai a bewildered stare, as the shining form in spandex clapped him on the shoulder.

"Now! My trendy rival," Gai gave another blinding grin as he pointed at Kakashi, "Shall we begin our youthful challenge!"

Kakashi let his shoulders slump dejectedly, which Gai apparently took as an affirmative as he then sped off over the rooftops. The green beast was followed quickly by Sakura and Iruka who were laughing amiably together as Sakura filled Iruka in on some of the trivial details of her life in the past few months. Kakashi slumped along at the tail end of the group. He felt a small twinge of jealousy at the easy way Sakura and her first teacher bantered back and forth, but what struck him most deeply was the sparkle of genuine warmth in Iruka's eyes as he listened to the girl's incessant chatter.

_He isn't bothered by the fact that she never shuts up… he's actually HAPPY to listen to her!?_ The thought was absurd. Kakashi was certainly fond of the girl, but he couldn't imagine himself having the present conversation with her. He sighed, the small tight knot of jealousy settling like a rock in his stomach, _He really does love all his students._ Kakashi shook his head_, What am I jealous of? The fact he's lost so much, but still cares so deeply? Or is it that… he doesn't look that way at…_he didn't allow himself to finish the thought.

They arrived at the training ground where Gai had already prepared a rope, tied to the middle, was a rucksack.

"What's in the bag?" Iruka asked Sakura, the pink haired nin grinned, a little too sweetly, and skipped to the bag,

"Gai-sensei came to me hoping for a way to get Kakashi-sensei to take this challenge seriously, and So!" with a flourish she opened the bag, "The winning team gets to take home Kakashi-sensei's Icha Icha collection!"

"WHAT!?!" Kakashi's shriek faded quickly into a whimper,

_Why would anyone even WANT those!?_ Iruka glanced at the dumbstruck jonin

"Ah ha ha! What a youthfully clever ruse! I can see the fire burning you already my hip rival!" Gai laughed striding over and pulled out an orange book from the sack, he flipped open the book at random and began to read "He threw her down and…Oh my..." Gai's eyes widened and a heated blush rose to his face, Iruka glanced towards Kakashi. The visible part of his face had also taken on a distinctively cherry color.

Gai had begun to wander off, the blush having risen to his ears, but his nose still buried in the book. Iruka glanced back and forth between a blushing, quivering Kakashi and the dumbstruck Gai who was moving further and further away from the small group.

"Oh Great! Now your dirty books have turned Gai-sensei into a pervert!" Sakura scoffed, her own cheeks tinged with pink.

"He… he took my book…" Kakashi whined, then suddenly his gaze hardened and he turned a deadly serious eye on Sakura, "And whose idea was it to raid my bookshelf in the first place!?"

Sakura let out a small yelp, and frantically muttered something about having to be somewhere, right NOW, and fled.

For a moment Kakashi considered giving chase, but Iruka's chuckled stayed him. He turned, the tanned teacher had knelt to untie the rucksack filled with Kakashi's precious "literature".

"As Gai and his team are no longer present, I suppose that means you win your books back." he smiled, handing the bag to Kakashi.

"Um...Thanks…"

"Well, I suppose I should be getting home. I need to get this ink washed off me before I give anyone else a heart attack."

Kakashi shivered, suddenly remembering the ice that had run through his veins, when he'd heard the school-teacher cry out and crash to the floor_. I didn't even think… I just rushed in there…_ Then it dawned on him that not only had he been late, he'd barged into the teacher's house, without even knocking, to catch the younger man in a rather humiliating situation.

"Ah, Iruka-sensei!" Kakashi called to the chunin's back, "I'm… sorry again, for being late. And… and for just barging in on you like that."

Iruka paused and turned, the nightmarish image of his tanned face splattered in… well… red ink… meeting Kakashi's one-eyed stare.

"Why… Why DID you just rush in like that? It's usually polite to knock."

"I… well… I heard you yell, and then there was a crash… and… I thought perhaps there was a battle."

"A… a _battle_? In my kitchen!?" Iruka asked in disbelief. Kakashi looked embarrassed."You practically knocked down my front door because you thought I was fighting a battle in my kitchen?"

"um… yeah…" Kakashi shrugged, forcing his face into a nonchalant smile, and trying desperately to control the blush he knew had spread across his face. _I'm an idiot._

Iruka shook his head slowly, Kakashi steeled himself for another lecture from the hot-tempered school teacher, probably about proper social protocol and the legal ramifications of breaking and entering. On that note, Sakura could use a good talking to. But Iruka surprised him again, when instead of being angry, he smiled warmly, the glow reaching his deep chocolate eyes.

"Thank you for worrying about me, Kakashi-sensei." His eyes suddenly hardened, despite the amiable smile plastered on his face. "It means a lot to me, that you care enough to break my house down in order to save me from student essays."

Kakashi fought hard not to visibly cringe at the sharp undercurrent his tone took on as Iruka reprimanded him. But it vanished as quickly as it appeared and Iruka turned again, giving Kakashi his own two-fingered wave, "I'll see you around. Kakashi-sensei."

"Yeah." Kakashi said quietly, and slumped off towards the monument, his bag of books in tow.

He supposed he'd won Gai's challenge, but, the fact that he'd made Iruka angry, he felt as if he'd lost.

_I really need to get out of Konoha._

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Okay, to clear things up a little, because I just KNOW someone's going to OOC me about Gai resorting to something underhanded like holding Kakashi's books hostage. And I concede, I don't really think it's in Gai's character to pull a prank like that.

Sakura on the other hand…

So, because I didn't go into any details in this chapter about Gai asking Sakura for her help, think of it this way.

Gai has been stalking Kakashi for… years… as far as I can tell, harassing him with these "youthful challenges" that only Gai gives a damn about. So, he's got to be at least a little frustrated by Kakashi's lack of enthusiasm for their rivalry by this point, so he goes to Kakashi's (only available) former student for advice on how to get his rival fired up. At which point he gets a "leave it to me", and Sakura alone is responsible for taking the Icha novels hostage. Gai doesn't know the contents of the rucksack until Iruka and Kakashi do.

Well, I think that's all. I hope you're all still enjoying this. I'm playing around with several ideas for the next few chapters, so hopefully I'll get those up sooner rather than later.

Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

Ah well.... I'm upping the rating on the this one, just to be safe.  
I don't think I got _too _graphic, but still... Wouldn't want Kakashi's little dream-sequence to get me into trouble. It's all those Icha Icha's he reads...

As always, I do not own Naruto or any chacaracter's contained there-in. This is purely for-fun, no profit is made, no copyright infringements intended.

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-6-

Kakashi stared a long time at the stone monument before him, time slipping away from him as it always did on his visits to the solemn hilltop. But today his mind seemed to endlessly wander back to a certain bipolar school-teacher. He played over the afternoon's events, his mood sinking even lower as he realized his 'eternal rival' had, in his dazed state, wandered off with one of Kakashi's beloved novels. The fourth if the partial sentence he'd read out loud was anything to go by.

Kakashi sighed deeply, depressed over the loss of his book, but then half smiled to himself as he remembered the pen that had embedded itself in the wall only millimeters from his face. He'd listened countless times as Naruto half-complained, half-bragged about his caretakers uncanny accuracy with a piece of chalk, but after only just barely dodging one of the projectiles himself, Kakashi found himself reconsidering the ease with which he had shrugged off the blonde's horror stories.

Once more, Kakashi recalled the ice that had frozen in his veins when he thought the pre-genin teacher had been injured. He tried to shake off the feeling, but unease continued to plague him, and the disturbing image refused to be pushed from his restless mind.

Frustrated, Kakashi finally fled the monument and skimmed along Konoha's rooftops until he found himself across the street from Iruka's small apartment. The open curtains allowed Kakashi a clear view into Iruka's bedroom. Kakashi couldn't help but notice three more dolphin plushies in addition to the one he'd seen on the couch earlier. Iruka entered, the room, clad only in a pair of loose-fitting pants, and a towel draped over his fuzzy hair. Kakashi felt a heat building deep in the pit of his stomach, as he watched the tanned teacher deposit the towel into a hamper and then flip up into a handstand to do several rounds of push-ups_. No one told me the little Chunin was built like a tank_… Images flashed into the Jonin's head…_ Braced above Iruka's chisled frame, his long, thin fingers, twisting into chocolate brown hair as he pressed the younger man into the mattress. His pale thighs a stark contrast to the tanned man impaled beneath him. His fingers twisting tighter into that frizzy hair as his hips thrust urgently upward... _ Kakashi jerked out of his reverie, almost losing his balance as a small groan escaped his lips, _Where the hell had THAT come from!?_

He tried to ignore the uncomfortable tightness in his pants, and tried to slow his pounding pulse. Without another look towards the school-teachers room, Kakashi set off for Hokage tower.

Unable to shake the feeling that someone was watching him, Iruka flipped back to his feet and moved to the window. His eyes landing on a vacant rooftop just across the street.

_Ahh… Stupid. There's no one there. Kakashi's just got me paranoid, that's all._

Iruka flipped off the light and flopped into bed.

Kakashi let himself in through the window. Tsunade was seated at her desk. Except for a mildly annoyed twitch she didn't bother trying to hide, Konoha's 5th Hokage didn't acknowledge him. The normally languid nin stood uncharacteristically straight, and his grey eyed gaze was deadly serious.

"I need a mission."

"What, right now?"

"Yes."

"No. Go to the mission room like everyone else."

"The mission room is not currently open. And I would like to depart sooner rather than later."

Tsunade eyed him suspiciously.

"Konoha getting too small and stuffy for you or what?"

Kakashi didn't meet her eyes, "You could say that." he muttered softly.

Tsunade sighed and pulled a scroll from her desk.

"I was going to assign this to a certain ANBU when they returned from their current mission, but I suppose you have the necessary qualifications." she handed him the scroll. "I'll be expecting your report in three weeks time"

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama." Kakashi gave a quick bow

"Hey brat." she said as he started to slip out the window, he paused, "take care of yourself out there. I can't afford to lose any more good nin."

Kakashi nodded once, and disappeared into the night.

Iruka lay awake, staring at the dark ceiling. His mind continuously drifting back to Kakashi. The older ninja had looked genuinely worried, even panicked when he'd barged in on Iruka this afternoon. And though he'd recovered admirably, Iruka had caught the fallen look on the Jonin's face when he'd lashed out at him before their parting.

_I was angry because he caught me looking like a fool. It wasn't his fault… I shouldn't have taken it out on him…_ Iruka mused guiltily.

"I'll visit Kakashi to apologize first thing tomorrow morning." He said out-loud, and with that, rolled over and went to sleep.

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Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I love hearing from you guys, and I take any and all suggestions into consideration!

Till next time, ja ne!


	7. Chapter 7

I wrote this REALLY late at night… I'm sure it's chock-full of mistakes and I probably should have had it beta'd. Please forgive my sloppiness, that last paragraph just popped into my head while I was trying to get to sleep and I just really wanted to get it posted. XD

If it's absolutely horrendous let me know, and I'll try to get around to editing / re-posting it.

But for right now I'm working on the next chapter, and hopefully sleeping… Zzzzzzzz

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Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto etc. etc. etc.

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Stand Alone Scarecrow

-7-

Iruka awoke early the next morning, dressing quickly he made his way across town just as the first rays of light began to filter through the trees. He smiled,

_This place is so peaceful at dawn…_ he sighed, _It's probably too early to call on Kakashi just yet… But it's been a while since I went for an early morning run around the village..._ with that in mind he turned towards Konoha's main gate to set out on his jog.

Iruka was surprised when halfway through his second lap he came across a distressed Gai and equally annoyed Genma.

"I must inform Kakashi of the poisonous nature of these books! Before his youthful spirit is corrupted."

Genma snorted and continued sucking on his senbon needle, shaking his head

"I promise Gai, I don't know where Kakashi went. Are you sure he's not anywhere in the village?"

"Kakashi's left the village?"

Genma and Gai turned to see Iruka panting several feet from them,

"I… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation!" Iruka stammered, a bright blush rising to his already flushing cheeks.

"Don't worry about it." Genma looked relieved.

"For all my youthful searching, I cannot find my hip rival anywhere!" Gai wailed, waterfall tears running down his cheeks.

"I've sent Kakashi on a mission."

The three men turned, startled by the voice.

Tsunade emerged from the tree line, a basket of herbs propped against her hip.

"Hokage-sama!" the three bowed,

"Enough." she waved,

"You said you sent Kakashi on a mission?" Iruka asked

"I did, he left last night."

"Oh… I see."

"Ah, my trendy rival! How admirable that you would rush so quickly out in service of our beloved Konoha! Your youthful spirit is an inspiration to us all!"

Tsunade, Genma and Iruka stood silently blinking at the sudden sunset that was summoned to accompany Gai's enthusiastic monologue.

When the Green Beast had finished, he pulled the orange book from his flak jacket and handed it to Iruka. "I will be leaving for my own mission soon, perhaps you can return this to Kakashi when he gets back."

"Oh... Um…"

"Thank you Iruka-sensei! Now, I must continue my youthful labors! 600 laps around Konoha on my left foot for failing to defeat my eternal rival!"

Gai hopped off, and with a shrug Genma returned to his post at the gate.

"Tsunade-sama," Iruka said quietly, "How long is Kakashi's mission expected to take."

"About 3 weeks, why?"

"Ah um… well…" Iruka thought quickly, "it seems it's become my responsibility to return his book to him."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes thoughtfully_; he's certainly blushing a lot for someone who just needs to return a book…_

"I see." she shifted the basket on her hip,

"You're probably busy, I'm sorry to keep you." Iruka said quickly, "Have a nice day, Tsunade-sama"

Tsunade watched the frizzy haired teacher retreat through Konoha's streets before turning to head for the Hokage tower. _ I wonder just what's going through that little chunin's head..._

Iruka headed home, his mind a whirlwind.

_Three weeks… that's a long time… Wait what!? I've gone YEARS without even speaking to Kakashi!? Why is a mere three weeks suddenly such an eternity!? It's just because I need to apologize for losing my temper with him… that's all… I just feel guilty for taking my frustration out on him… oh, and now I need to give him back his book… it's just trivial things...nothing more…_

_But regardless of the rationalizations he tried to use, Iruka couldn't shake the sense of unease that plagued him._

_I hope he comes back safely_... he sighed heavily as he stepped through his door.

…3 Weeks Later…

Kakashi darted from tree to tree, he was closing in on the Fire country's border, another few days and he'd be back in Konoha. His left arm dangled uselessly at his side, and he could sense his pursuer's chakra behind him. He'd received word that Asuma and Kurenai were en-route to meet him, but he was losing blood quickly, and his vision was beginning to blur. Too late he tried to dodge the kunai that flew at him from behind. The explosive tag ignited and the last thing he saw was the ground rushing to meet him... A scarred face flashed in his mind, ..._Iruka..._

then everything faded into darkness.

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I don't really know much about Genma, except that he's a jonin and is always sucking on a senbon needle.  
Does he do gaurd duty?  
I have no idea.

He does today!

Does Tsunade go out and gather her own medicinal herbs?  
Once again I have no idea, maybe she sends out Sakura or Shizune to do it? But today she's feeling self-sufficient I suppose. Good for her, way to keep the plot moving.

Good grief I need sleep.

Night all!


	8. Chapter 8

Un-beta'd -sorry if it's messy.  
I'll be leaving for vacation soon, so I'm trying to do a lot of stuff all at once. But as I've had a couple people express concern for Kakashi's well being... well... it would just be MEAN to make you guys wait till I got back!

So this chapter is for the people who reviewed!

I'm hoping to get at least one more chapter up before I leave, but we'll see.

--------------------------

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto, any characters there-in. Written for fun.

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-8-

Asuma's head snapped towards the sound of the explosive tag, and saw the flash of silver hair as Kakashi's limp form plummeted towards the ground.

"Nai!" he snapped, darting to catch the falling jonin.

"Right!" the long haired nin covered him as he caught their fallen comrade, then the two vanished into the trees of the Fire country. Leaving Kakashi's pursuers farther and farther behind.

"How is he?" Kurenai asked when they finally stopped to catch their breath.

"Chakra depletion, looks like his left shoulder's been dislocated, pretty deep gash is his leg there. He's lost a lot of blood. Probably dehydrated too. And the way he was moving before, I'd say he's probably suffered internal injuries." Asuma scowled and wrapped the wound in Kakashi's leg.

"The information he was given was wrong. Ours too, there shouldn't have been so many of them."

Asuma shook his head,

"Kakashi's too experienced to count on yesterday's intel. Situations change in the blink of an eye, he knows that. For them to catch him off guard…" he shook his head again, "he was distracted by something."

"Like what?"

The silver haired jonin groaned into half-consciousness, "…ruka…" he slurred before slipping into complete darkness once more

"Iruka!?"Kurenai smiled despite her comrades' dire situation,

"Don't tell me our non-committal copy-nin is lovesick…" Asuma snorted, hoisting Kakashi to his shoulder once more.

He and Kurenai set off once more through the trees, cautiously tracking the chakra of their distant pursuers.

"His injuries will take some time to heal… But at least that'll give him some time to hang around the village…"

Asuma cracked a grin, but his face turned serious as he glanced at the unconscious nin he was carrying, "That's assuming he survives…"

…

Several days later found Asuma and Kurenai raced through Konoha's gate and heading straight for the hospital. Tsunade was alerted by the village guard and met them at the door.

"How is he?" the blonde asked

"Bad." Asuma panted, lowering Kakashi's unconscious form onto a stretcher. The normally pale jonin's skin had taken on a sickly gray tinge and the luster of his normally shiny silver hair had faded. Tsunade placed a cool hand on the wounded nin's forehead,

"High fever, dehydration, severe blood loss, chakra depletion..." Tsunade continued listing symptoms as doctors and nurses scurried to attach IV's and begin working on the half-dead nin. The Hokage turned to the two exhausted jonin standing anxiously in the hall. "Thank you, for successfully completing your mission to retrieve Kakashi."

The two bowed

"Will he be alright?" Kurenai asked,

Tsunade's shoulders sagged, "I've never seen him come back this badly wounded before. Did he say anything to you, about his mission?"

"He was unconscious when we reached him. He hasn't really woken up since." Asuma said quietly

Kurenai nodded in agreement, "He was only half-conscious when we tried to feed him. But even then he just mumbled Iruka's name and then slipped out again."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, her mind flashing back to the tanned teacher's reaction almost a month ago, and his recent inquiry into Kakashi's ETA*. "Iruka huh?" she said, more to herself than two confused nin standing before her. "Asuma, Kurenai, go home and get some rest."

"Yes Ma'am! Thank you Tsunade-sama." the two chorused together with a bow and fled the hospital.

Tsunade turned towards the room where her medical nin were working feverishly to save the silver-haired copy-nin. "Kakashi and Iruka hmm…" Images of the two nin doing all sorts of activities unfit for conversation flashed into her mind, sending a delighted shiver down her spine. She rolled up her sleeve, "Kakashi, I'm going to personally see to it that you survive this!" she charged into the room, brown eyes burning in determination. _I might get bored if you were to die on me now._

Tsunade and the medical nin struggled feverishly until just before dawn to stabilize Kakashi's condition. Shizune stood waiting for her outside the door when the Hokage stepped into the hallway for the first time in over 10 hours.

"How is he?" she asked

Tsunade wiped the sweat from her brow,

"He's stabilized. The worst is over. Well…" she grimaced as she recounted all the trouble Kakashi had given the hospital staff in the past. "He'll survive at least."

She flopped into a chair.

"Shall I escort you back to the tower Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade shook her head, "I'll be fine. Send for Iruka. I want him brought here."

"The academy teacher?"

Tsunade nodded,

"Why?"

Tsunade grinned, a mischievous twinkle in her brown eyes, "I have a mission for him. Have Genma take over his class for the time being."

"yes Ma'am." Shizune felt a chill run down her spine. She'd seen that look in the Hokage's eyes before. _What's that woman up to?_ She wondered as she hurried out of the hospital to fetch the hapless teacher and his unfortunate substitute.

***********

*ETA = estimated time of arrival (My mom works security at an airport, apparently her jargon is wearing off on me.)

Thanks for reading! See you next chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

Aiya! I spent all night writing this!  
It's proof-read by me, but otherwise un-beta'd so please forgive any grammatical errors. (It's so hard to thouroughly proof-read your own work.)

Anyway, thanks SO MUCH to everyone who reviewed! You guys are awesome!

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Disclaimer - I don't own Naruto. *sigh*

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-9-

Iruka was awakened by a pounding on his door. Sleepily he rose to answer it.

"Yes?" he yawned cracking the door, "Shi… Shizune!?" he came instantly awake, suddenly VERY aware that he was standing shirtless and in dolphin print boxers, "What can I do for you?"

"The Hokage has a mission for you. She requests your presence at the tower at once."

"Of course... But… my class?"

"A substitute is being arranged. Bring your lesson plans to give them."

"Of… of course." Iruka nodded and hurried back into his apartment to get dressed and collect his things.

Half an hour later Iruka stood in Tsunade's office. The blonde looked exhausted and much closer to her 50+ years than she normally did. A few moments later, a rather disgruntled Genma walked in, chewing viciously on his signature senbon needle.

Tsunade stifled a yawn, then pushed herself to her feet.

"Genma," she said sternly,

"Ma'am." he snapped to attention

"You will be substituting in Iruka's class for the time being. Iruka, please give Genma your lesson plans and any instructions you deem necessary, after that, Genma you are dismissed."

Genma's shoulders sagged, "You want me to babysit the brat brigade?"

Iruka stiffened, momentarily insulted, then shrugged it off with a soft sigh. No matter how found he was of them, there was no denying the fact that his pre-genin students had been spawned from the deepest bowels of hell itself.

He handed over his satchel,

"The rest of this week's lessons are all laid out in the green planner, and the black one has a rough outline for the rest of the semester. But we're actually about three weeks behind right now…" he muttered sheepishly

Genma nodded his understanding.

"They're still only using practice shuriken, and it'll be some time before I'd recommend handing them real ones."

Genma shuddered involuntarily_. Who in their right mind would willingly give those little hellion's weapons_!?

"And" Iruka continued, "Always make sure you arrive at the classroom before they do. Otherwise they booby-trap everything."

Genma's eye twitched and he bit down harder on the senbon needle. "right." he growled.

Tsunade suppressed a grin.

"I'll have a way for you contact Iruka-sensei if you have any further questions. You're dismissed."

"Ma'am." Genma bowed and hurried from the room, carrying Iruka's school bag.

Tsunade sat down, and gestured for Iruka to do the same.

"Have a seat Iruka"

Iruka sat down, shifting nervously.

Tsunade accepted the cup of coffee Shizune wordlessly brought before her.

"Coffee?" the Hokage's assistant asked, offering a mug to Iruka.

"Oh, thank you." he smiled gratefully, and sipped on the dark, bitter liquid.

Shizune disappeared as quietly as she had come. Tsunade drank gratefully of the caffeinated beverage.

"You had a mission for me? Tsunade-sama?" Iruka asked softly, unable to hold his tongue any longer.

"Yes, I'd like you to begin immediately." the blonde hid her grin behind her oversized coffee mug

"Oh, I see… umm… Hokage-sama… Has there been any word of Kakashi-sensei yet?"

_This is too perfect!!_ Tsunade grinned to herself

"Kakashi was collected and returned late yesterday afternoon. He's currently recuperating in the hospital."

"The hospital!?" Iruka jerked involuntarily, spilling hot coffee down his arm.

"Kakashi came back gravely injured, chakra depletion, dehydration, internal injuries, broken bones. A complete mess. The med staff and I spent over ten hours piecing him back together last night. Your mission, Iruka, is to make sure all our hard work doesn't go to waste."

Iruka's dark complexion had paled considerably. "I'm… I'm not sure I understand."

"Kakashi has been known to cause… problems, for my staff at the hospital. But I can't spare any of the medical nin to babysit him right now. Besides…" she grinned widely, "he's been requesting you by name."

"Kakashi's been requesting ME!?!" Iruka squeaked

Tsunade smiled encouragingly and handed Iruka a pass

"This will grant you 24/7 visiting hours. And when the brat escapes, as he undoubtedly will, you are to take him home. To your place or his, I don't care either way, but you are to stick to Kakashi's side like glue and keep him out of harm's way until I deem him fit to take care of himself. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Ma'am" Iruka said standing, "How long do you expect his recovery to take?"

"He's not to undergo any strenuous activity for at least three months while his ribs and shoulder recover. The chakra depletion is much harder to gage. But it is absolutely critical that he not even ATTEMPT to use his chakra until I PERSONALLY give him the okay."

"Understood."

"Very good. I'll be checking in on you then. Good luck Iruka-sensei."

"Good day, Tsunade-sama." Iruka bowed and walked swiftly to the door. Once in the hallway he began to run, darting through the tower doors and hurtling into the streets. Iruka took to the rooftops as he raced towards the hospital.

_Is he really so bad off he needs someone to look after him for the next three months?_

Iruka felt mildly guilty. He didn't know Kakashi intimately, but he was certainly aware of the jonin's fierce independence. _I'll just have to handle the situation delicately. Give him support without smothering him._ With a chagrined grimace Iruka recalled the many times Naruto had accused him of being a "mother hen". He shook his head to clear it and dashed through the Hospital's main door.

"I'm here to look in on Hatake Kakashi." he panted to the girl at the front desk. Sliding her his visitor pass.

"Ah, the Hokage said you'd be coming. Up the stairs to floor 3 and then take a left. He's in Room 324."

"Thank you."

Iruka hurried up the stairs and started down the stark white hallway until he found room 324. The sight before him made his knees give out and he clutched at the doorframe to keep from crashing to the floor.

The legendary copy-nin looked half dead, his eyes were sunken and his pale skin seemed to hang loosely on his frame. His shock of silver hair lay a limp, lusterless mass of tangled gray. If it hadn't been for his signature mask covering the lower half of his face, Iruka might not have recognized the normally vibrant jonin. Swallowing hard Iruka pushed himself from the door and drug a chair to Kakashi's bedside, his eyes coursing over the IV's and monitors attached to his newly acquired charge.

He sat heavily and dropped his head into his hands, unable to stop his entire body from shaking.

_How did someone like Kakashi come home looking like this? _He shook his head, _What am I saying? If he's this bad I should just be grateful he came home at all._

The jonin shivered, jerking Iruka from his reverie. He quickly pulled an extra blanket from beneath Kakashi's bed and pulled it to copy nin's chin. His still trembling hand brushing against Kakashi's dark mask. The jonin's hand snapped up to grab his wrist…

_Amazing…_ Iruka shook his head, _even in this state he's on his guard… _

He released the blanket and sat back in his chair. He gently released his wrist from the jonin's grasp before cupping the pale hand in his own, studying the contrast of Kakashi's pale skin against his tan. The copy-nin's breathing steadied and deepened, as Iruka gently rubbed the back of his hand with his dark thumb. Inadvertently reverting back to a technique he'd used to calm a sleeping Naruto the ONE time the seemingly indestructible boy had come down with a cold.

Four days later Kakashi's eyes blinked open, the copy-nin coming fully awake for the first time in almost two weeks. He stared groggily around the ceiling, groaning inwardly as he recognized the stark white of Konoha's hospital. He made a mental note of everything that hurt, his list consisting of… everything. Then noticed that his right hand felt warm. He looked down and was shocked to find a tuft of chocolate brown hair and it's darkly tanned owner, dozing in the chair beside him. He studied the Chunin's sleeping face, his eyes tracing over the scar that marred the bridge of his nose and down to where the academy teacher's hand lay cupped around his own. His first instinct was to pull away, and he twitched, but then stayed the impulse. The human contact was… almost alien… but the chunin's closeness felt strangely… comforting...

Kakashi lay back and closed his eyes as he felt Iruka stir. The Chunin yawned and stretched, then rose from the chair, a growl echoing from his stomach. He heard Iruka sigh and mumble to himself

"Shouldn't have skipped breakfast this morning…"

A hand lightly cupped his cheek, Kakashi fought the urge to bat it away as he felt the thumb trace over the edge of his mask.

"I really hope you wake up soon… Kakashi…" Iruka said gently, "Maybe someday you'll show me your whole face…" with that the Chunin left the room to find something to eat. After hearing the door swing closed, Kakashi opened his mismatched eyes and brought a hand to his cheek where Iruka's cool touch still lingered.

_He didn't remove my mask? How long has he been here? And why... Why is he here?_

Iruka stood in front of the vending machine, his mind a whirlwind of worries. After four days of sitting beside Kakashi he was bored out of his mind, but more than that, it'd been four days and Kakashi hadn't so much as opened his eyes. Iruka sighed and punched in the numbers for a stale sandwich, _I wonder how Genma and the students are faring…_ he shivered involuntarily. _Probably best not to go there._

A nurse entered Kakashi's room. He once again feigned sleeping, but his curiosity got the better of him.

"Oi. Nurse."

The girl jumped, startled by his sudden address

"Hey, you're finally awake. You've been sleeping for four days. Ah…" she sighed, "What a peaceful four days they were."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and got straight to his point

"Why is Iruka here?"

The girl shrugged, "Dunno, but he's barely left your side in four days. We even told him he could go home and that we'd call him when you woke up. But he said the Hokage had given him strict orders to stay with you."

Kakashi's heart fell; _He's only here because the old bat ordered him too_… "I see." he said quietly, turning his head to stare at the clear blue sky out the window.

Iruka re-entered the room, sandwich in hand, just as the nurse was leaving.

"He's awake." she said as she bustled out with her clipboard.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Iruka exclaimed as he sat next to him, "How are you feeling?"

Kakashi ignored his question, and didn't turn his head to look at him

"So I hear you've been assigned to babysit me." he said coldly, he felt Iruka stiffen.

"I know this must be hard on you. I'll try my best to interfere with you as little as possible."

Kakashi turned to glare at him, but his hard gaze immediately softened,

The chunin sat staring at the untouched sandwich in his hands, his lips drawn in a tight line and his tanned brow creased with worry. His normally messy ponytail looked even more disheveled than usual, and several hairs had come loose, falling down to frame his finely chisled, albeit tired, face.

_He's… he's beautiful…_

Unthinkingly, Kakashi reached out to brush a strand of hair from Iruka's face.

"I'll live. So don't worry." he said, far more gently than he had intended

Iruka's startled gaze snapped up to meet his own, as the copy-nin's hand brushed against the academy teacher's reddening cheek.

"Ka…kashi?"

Kakashi felt himself falling into endlessly deep chocolate brown eyes, before something in his brain kicked in to inform the rest of him of what his hand was doing.

He jerked his hand back, a blush rising to his own face, and tried to laugh it off. He failed miserably.

He looked away embarrassed, and partially afraid that he'd lose himself again if he met Iruka's tenderly surprised gaze.

"So how long are you supposed to keep an eye on me."

"Two eyes." Iruka smiled, "Tsunade-sama said it would take about three months for you to recover completely. She expects that you'll make some sort of escape attempt long before that, so a place has been prepared for you to stay at my apartment." Iruka unconsciouly slipped into his teacher-lecture mode "You're to avoid strenuous activity, and under NO circumstances are you to use your chakra until she gives you the all-clear."

"Messed up my channels that badly, did I?"

"From what I understand, you all but blew them up. Really Kakashi-sensei, a ninja of your status and experience should be more aware of his body's limits! And do you have any idea how worried I was!? You left without a word and..." his voice trailed off, and his cheeks burned a brilliant crimson

It was Kakashi's turn to stare in surprise, and his to look away embarrassed.

"I… I…" he stammered, his face looking more and more like a tomato with each passing moment, "I wanted to apologize to you! Kakashi-sensei! I… I'm very sorry for losing my temper with you! I was embarrassed that you caught me in such a foolish situation, but I should not have blamed it on you! Please forgive me!" The chunin stood and bowed deeply.

Kakashi continued to stare in shock, then a chuckle began to build in his throat. The heated blush rose to Iruka's ears, as Kakashi's laughter continued to build.

Tsunade paused in the hallway, quickly performing a jutsu that would allow her to see through the thin wall.

She watched as Kakashi reached out to curl his fingers around Iruka's hand,

"Thank you… Iruka-sensei." the copy nin smiled, his mismatched eyes curling up in genuine mirth.

_Perhaps I'll just stop in later_… she smiled, slinking off back down the hallway.

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Ah, all done. That was a LOOOONG chapter!

Hope you enjoyed it!

I love writing Tsunade, she's so much fun!


	10. Chapter 10

As always, THANKS SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED! You guys are SUCH great inspiration!

I'll be leaving for vacation tomorrow morning, so this will be my last post for at least the next 10 days. I'll be back on June 6th and will try to update ASAP upon my return.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

AN: I might have gone a little AU on this chapter by bringing in Mizuki. I know there's some filler-arc in the anime where he's an Orochimaru henchman with a potion or whatever, but for the sake of my story I'm choosing to ignore that and running with the theory that he's a "missing-nin" with a grudge against Naruto, and after the events of the first episode, a vendetta against Iruka as well.

I didn't want to "make up" a villain and/or backstory, but I wanted someone who had a history with Iruka. Mizuki fit the bill.

I'm really hoping nobody minds my taking a few "creative liberties" concerning the original story-line.

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-10-

Genma sat at Iruka's desk, his jaw clenched so tightly on his senbon needle it hurt. His "class" had dismissed only a few moments earlier, and the twenty-some spawns of hell he'd been charged with, had happily stampeded through the door, and a few through the windows.

His head was pounding. _Iruka actually APPLIED for this god-forsaken job!?_ He thought for the 5th day in a row._ That chunin's got to be one sick masochistic bastard to want to spend his days with these hell-born monsters! Damn, I need a drink… _Genma pushed himself to his feet and froze as he felt eyes on him. His tongue grazing over the end of his senbon needle as he turned towards the open window, the senbon needle flew towards the tree just outside, burying itself in the trunk; but his watcher was gone. Genma slipped outside to recollect his needle, hopping into the tree and removing it from the trunk. He thoughtfully examined the strand of white hair it had pinned there. _How many white haired nin would bother masking their chakra to spy on a pre-genin academny? _He asked himself, but couldn't bring any to mind.

"Perhaps I should mention this to the Hokage." He muttered out loud. " With a heavy sigh Genma set off towards the Hokage tower.

Mizuki watched him carefully from the shadows of a nearby alley, not daring to move lest the Tokujo sense him. He silently cursed himself for being careless enough to let Genma sense him.

_I had expected Iruka…_ _If Genma's filling in for him at the academy… Where would he be? Home sick? Unlikely, Iruka never gets sick. On an away mission? _Tentatively he reached out with his senses, tracing the familiar chakra signature of his former partner. Cautiously, Mizuki began to move.

He smiled as he neared the hospital, Iruka's chakra blazed like a beacon.

_The sun will set soon, I'll pay him a visit when the night shift comes on. _

Mizuki settled into the shadows to wait.

Several hours crawled by slowly, Mizuki tensed, ready to move as the shifts changed. Silent as a shadow he scaled the building coming to a screeching halt beside Kakashi's window. He hadn't expected the scene before him. The copy-nin Kakashi lay propped on the crisp bed, with a rumpled Iruka sitting beside him. His eyes narrowed as he noted the warmth in the glance exchanged between the two nin. The Chunin stretched and smiled, exchanging a few words with the jonin before he settled in to sleep in his chair. The silver-haired copy nin's eyes curved up as he returned the academy teacher's smile, and he reached to collect an orange bound book with a large number 4, on the binding, and immersed himself in the script.

_Iruka and Kakashi!?_ Mizuki was dumbfounded, bile rose in his throat as bitter jealousy coursed through him. _You stole away everything from me, Umino Iruka! My one chance to rid this village of the demon fox forever. My one chance for glory! For recognition! For happiness! This time… _ He silently promised the chocolate haired Chunin, _It will be I, who steals away your happiness._ _After I kill the invalid jonin, I'll make sure the blonde brat never comes home agai! And you, Umino Iruka, will know the same empty despair that I have suffered!_

His desire for vengeance burning, Mizuki slipped off into the night.

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Sorry, short un-beta'd chapter, but I have to finish packing!

See you guys after June 10th!


	11. Chapter 11

warning- un-beta'd (I didn't want to wait)

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters therein.

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AN: Again, because Mizuki is involved, this chapter is a little AU. I know Mizuki should be out of commission by this point, but for the sake of my needing an "Iruka-nemesis" I've decided to put him back on the loose. Like I said before, I hope you'll excuse my taking a few creative-liberties to _slightly_ alter the original Naruto story-line.

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-11-

Iruka sat at Kakashi's side, silently marveling at how easily the two had fallen into their current light-hearted conversation. The jonin's quick wit kept him constantly on his toes, but his years as a smart-mouthed prankster had been exceptional training in creating witty come-backs of his own.

His chuckle died in his throat as an icy gaze he hadn't felt in years caused the hair on the back of his neck to prickle. His eyes snapped to the window, but there was nothing. He cast a quick glance at Kakashi, the jonin sat stiff and silent, his mismatched eyes fixed in a steely stare directed at the square pane of glass. He watched a bead of sweat form as the copy-nin's brow creased in concentration.

"Don't!" Iruka cried, knocking his chair backwards as he sprang to his feet and slammed both hands down on Kakashi's bed.

Kakashi blinked at him, not bothering to hide his confusion

"Tsunade-sama said you mustn't try to use your chakra until your channels are fully healed! Do you WANT to be permanently disabled!?"

Kakashi grinned nonchalantly,

"Mah… I was being careful."

"If you'd been CAREFUL you wouldn't be in this condition in the first place!"

Kakashi's eyes narrowed,

"I did what I had to, to successfully complete my mission. Now I need to know that I haven't endangered the village by leading an enemy back here."

Iruka looked abashed, he sat back in his chair, cheeks burning brightly, but his chocolate eyes still locked on Kakashi's face.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei. I didn't mean to imply that you were incompetent." His eyes fell, and Kakashi felt the Chunin drawing into himself as he added quietly, "And you needn't worry about having led anyone here. The nin outside the window has always known Konoha's location."

"Name them." He said, his voice soft, but his tone commanding.

Iruka shivered and involuntarily clenching his fists to the point that they began to tremble, but his eyes, when they rose to meet Kakashi's, burned.

"It's Mizuki."

Kakashi's brain whirled into motion like a well greased machine as he sifted through his memory, pulling out any information he could remember that was linked to that name.

He closed his eyes, remembering the file he'd seen a few years ago after an incident with Naruto and a secret scroll.

_Mizuki… missing nin… rank Chunin… _He shook his head, frustrated. He couldn't remember any more than that. He momentarily considered prying more information from Iruka, the academy teacher obviously knew Mizuki personally, but considering the chunin's reaction… Kakashi shook his head in frustration again. He was enjoying his personal nurse-maid's company far too much to drive him away with insensitive inquiries.

_I'll borrow a couple files from the old lady after Iruka dozes off…_ he decided.

Several hours later, after checking and re-checking to make sure the window was locked, Iruka finally fell asleep in the chair beside Kakashi's bed. The silver haired jonin silently rose stretching his limbs and stepping gingerly onto the cold tile floor. His legs were shaky, but held his weight… barely.

Kakashi slowly, using to wall to help support himself, slipped out into the hallway. The shakiness in his legs worsened as he crept silently down the stairs,

_I'll find an empty room on a lower floor and slip out the window…_

To his mild surprise, and infinite amusement, Kakashi met with no patrolling night-shift nurses as he made his escape from the hospital. Keeping to the alleyways, the hospital-gown clad nin made his way to the hokage's tower.

Having successfully escaped from stifling confines of the despised hospital had given new strength to Kakashi's legs and he scaled the tower to Tsunade's office with only minor difficulties.

He slid through the window into the empty office and made his way to a large filing cabinet in the corner. Having rifled through it before, he knew exactly where to look for the file on the Missing-nin, Mizuki.

He flipped through folders, clinging to the cabinet for support. Now that the adrenaline from escaping the hospital had worn off, the shaking in his legs had returned twofold. Triumphantly pulling out the file he'd been searching for, Kakashi succumbed to the weakness in his knees and slid slowly to the floor. Everything hurt, and the room was tilting wildly. He took several deep breaths, eyes screwed shut as he concentrated only on slowing his pulse. Once he was confident he was no longer in danger of fainting or throwing up, he pulled the contents from the folder and in the light cast by the moon and the dimly burning lamp on Tsunade's desk, he began to read.

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Still contemplating her meeting with Genma, Tsunade peeked into her office, instantly spotting the silver haired nin seated on the floor beside her filing cabinet.

_That brat! I knew he'd turn up! Still, it took him longer to escape than I expected, Iruka must have done an exceptional job watching him… or perhaps… _She momentarily considered charging into the room to catch him red-handed, but a more amusing idea came to her. _Perhaps he was just loathe to leave Iruka's company…_With a mischievous grin she set off to the contact Iruka at the hospital so that he could reclaim his wayward charge himself.

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Kakashi carefully studied the picture of the white-haired nin, surprised to find that the icy-eyed Chunin had once been an academy teacher as well. His contemptible stare was such a sharp contrast to Iruka's warm chocolate colored gaze that he found himself scanning the information again, just to be sure he'd read it right. But the line below made his heart skip,

**Previous Partner(s): Umino Iruka**

He now found himself more intrigued by Iruka's obviously shaken reaction. Was the Chunin upset about the idea of having to fight and capture a former friend? Perhaps their bonds forged as partners still remained?

He flipped to another page, even in the dim light the darkly tanned skin of the shoulders in the photograph were unmistakable. Horror turned to rage as he read the report concerning the photograph of the gaping wound in Iruka's back.

Just then the door to the office slammed open and an image from the darkest nightmares of Konoha's pre-genin fumed into the room.

"KAKASHI!" Iruka roared, storming across the room

Kakashi froze as the full understanding of Naruto's fear of his caretaker hit him like a bucket of ice water.

"Yo." He said meekly

"DON'T 'YO' ME YOU BLOCKHEAD! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THE HOSPITAL STAFF AND I HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH! WE'VE SEARCHED EVERYWHERE FOR YOU! YOU STUPID! HOW DARE YOU SNEAK OUT LIKE THAT! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!? ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL YOURSELF!? YOU'RE IN NO CONDITION FOR THIS KIND OF STUNT! HOW STUPID CAN YOU BE! NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT YOU'RE RUNNING AROUND KONOHA IN A BACKLESS HOSPITAL GOWN! WHAT IF ONE OF MY STUDENTS HAD SEEN YOU! DON'T YOU EVER THINK BEFORE ACTING!? AND HOW DARE YOU BREAK INTO THE HOKAGE'S OFFICE! HAVE YOU NO RESPECT! IDIOT!"

From her place in the hallway, Tsunade stifled a giggle. She peeked around the doorframe, Iruka had his back to her and Kakashi's full attention was on the furious teacher that towered menacingly over him.

_Ah, that brat had this coming to him. _She snickered, then softened slightly, _Still, it's cute how worried Iruka was about him, and I do feel a little sorry for him. Our little academy teacher certainly has a temper. _

Kakashi sat silently as the raging tempest that was Iruka directed its full fury at him. As Iruka paused to take a breath he noticed the photo in Kakashi's hand. His already balled fist smashed into the filing cabinet beside the jonin's head, sending it crashing sideways onto the floor with a significant dent in the side.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" he roared,

"I…" Kakashi finally managed to get a grip on himself, "I am researching the enemy."

"THAT'S NOT THE ENEMY!" Iruka roared, smacking away the photo in Kakashi's hand.

"No." Said Kakashi quietly, "But it's…"

"Why didn't you just ask?" Iruka said, his eyes looked pained and Kakashi felt a stab of guilt.

"It seemed personal. I didn't want to pry."

"So you went snooping through a file instead?"

"I came to research the file on Mizuki, I didn't know that you…"

"Would be a part of it." Iruka shook his head, "You should have just asked."

"No one would want to admit they'd been scarred by a comrade turned traitor!"

Iruka stiffened, then cast an understanding glance at Kakashi,

"Mizuki and I were once partners. We grew up together and I considered him my closest friend. But he tried to frame and kill Naruto and for that I can never forgive him." He sighed as he bent to pick up the photo he'd smacked from Kakashi's hand and handed it back from him. "This scar is only a reminder of how important my students are to me. It's nothing I'm ashamed of."

Kakashi studied Iruka's scarred face. The Chunin extended a hand,

"You need to rest, Kakashi-sensei. The Hokage's office is not the place for that."

Kakashi took the offered hand, but as he started to rise his legs wilted underneath him.

"What's wrong!?"

"My legs!?"

"Tsunade-sama!" Iruka turned, but the blonde had already entered the room. But instead of moving towards Iruka and Kakashi, she seated herself at her desk and pulled out a bottle of sake.

"He pushed himself too hard. You'll have to carry him."

"But… but…" he sputtered, "He…" Iruka pointed towards Kakashi, "he isn't wearing any pants!" he wailed

Tsunade sprayed sake across her desk and sat choking for several minutes as she tried desperately not to laugh. Finally regaining her composure she fixed a distraught Iruka with her most authoritative stare.

"I warned you, Iruka-sensei, that he would attempt to escape from the hospital. And I believe I charged you with the sole responsibility of seeing that he didn't. Overseeing Hatake Kakashi's recovery is Your mission, is it not."

"Yes ma'am." He said softly, he looked down at where Kakashi sat nonchalantly on the floor.

_He acts like it isn't even Him we're talking about!_ Iruka thought, slightly annoyed.

With a sigh he crouched in front of Kakashi, "Can you climb on?" he asked,

Kakashi nodded and slid his arms over Iruka's shoulder's. Iruka hoisted him up, trying not to think about the fact that his hands were locked directly beneath the other man's naked butt. Without a word, the red-faced teacher marched stoically out of the Hokage's office.

Tsunade waited until she heard Iruka's laden footsteps fade down the hall before she fell out of her chair, howling with laughter.

Stepping into the night air, Iruka turned to trek back towards the hospital.

"I don't want to go back there." Kakashi whined

"You need to rest." Iruka growled

"So do you."

"Exactly, that's why we're going back to the hospital."

"I'll just escape again. Besides, wouldn't you sleep better in the comfort of your own home."

"I…" but Iruka couldn't find an argument, he desperately missed his own bed. The nights in the hospital chair were killing his back.

Kakashi sensed his hesitation and took full advantage.

"You said you had a room for me at your place. Let's go there instead. Besides, that'll save you the embarrassment of having to carry a half naked man in a hospital gown piggy-back past the girl at the reception desk."

Iruka stiffened and his face and ears glowed an even brighter red.

Kakashi grinned and found himself fighting the urge to nuzzle and nibble an ear that burned tantalizingly close to his face as Iruka changed course and headed for his apartment.

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Finally regaining control of herself, Tsunade picked herself up off the floor, holding her stomach as she gasped for air. Shizune had already collected the folder Kakashi had been "investigating". Tsunade studied the photo on the first page.

"Mizuki huh?"

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There you have it!

Special thanks to KakashiKrazed who let me know about a posting problem!


	12. Chapter 12

un-beta'd - had part of it written alread so decided to just post it. My kitty helped... mostly by sitting on my keyboard... he's so productive. ^w^

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Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto etc.

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"What are we going to do about him?" Shizune asked

Tsunade sighed, "As much as I'd like to make his capture a top priority, I can't spare anyone right now. Put up a notice with his information in the mission room, make sure Genma sees it."

"Genma?"

"Mizuki appeared at both Iruka's classroom at the academy, and Kakashi's room at the hospital."

"You think he's after Iruka?"

Tsunade nodded gesturing to the folder on her desk, "They were partners once, and according the reports, it was Iruka who stopped him from framing and killing Naruto several years ago."

"So you believe Mizuki has come back because he has a grudge against Iruka?"

"I can't assume anything. But it would certainly make sense wouldn't it? Still, I want Genma and rest of the academy on high alert. We can't allow anything to happen to the students."

"Should I notify Iruka?"

"Send a patrol past his part of town at intervals, but for now, let's let him be. He already had his hands full when he left here." The image of a red-faced Iruka carrying the gown-clad Kakashi sprang back into her mind with perfect clarity, and the blonde began to roar with laughter again.

Shizune sighed and shook her head

_Poor Iruka… How unfortunate for him to have caught her attention…_

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Iruka quickly undid the wards locking his apartment and carried Kakashi inside, setting the jonin down on the couch, he slumped into a chair.

"That was fun." Kakashi smirked through his mask

"You're the worst." Iruka panted. He considered himself in good shape, especially considering he worked a desk job, but carrying practically his own weight half-way across town, _discreetly_, had been exceptionally difficult. The self-satisfied smirk in Kakashi's eyes did nothing to improve his mood.

He rose and began re-setting traps and wards, the feeling of Mizuki spying through the window still prickling on the back of his neck.

"Is there where I'm to sleep?" Kakashi asked after a few minutes

Iruka looked insulted "Of course not! I wouldn't ask an injured person to sleep on the couch!"

Kakashi shrugged "I am imposing."

"I accepted this mission willingly." Iruka said stubbornly, the hurt evident in his brown eyes. He stood, "I'll help you to bed." He looped Kakashi's arm over his shoulder and half carried, half dragged Kakashi through a door and into a bedroom.

Kakashi's eyes scanned the room quickly and he recognized the three dolphin plushies from before.

_This is His bedroom!? _

"Where will you sleep?" he asked as Iruka flipped back the sheets and lowered him onto the bed.

"The couch is fine for me. I fall asleep there all the time anyway."

Kakashi tried to rise again,

"No, let me. This is your bed and…"

Iruka pushed him back to the mattress, his chocolate eyes catching the small amount of light that crept in from the street and shining darkly. "My mission is to insure that you make a full recovery, and tonight I am tired. Please don't make it any harder than necessary." His voice was soft, but Kakashi could sense the strain beneath it.

"Fine." He consented settling back beneath the tanned hand that had him pinned, "but in the morning I intend to re-open this negotiation."

Iruka shook his head and rose towards the door

"There is no negotiation, Kakashi-sensei."

"Why don't you sleep in here too, then? It's a double and..." the rest of his words died in his throat and he realized what he'd unthinkingly blurted out.

Iruka stiffened, and the blush crept up to his ears again

"G…Goodnight. Kakashi-sensei." He said quickly, and hurried through the door.

Kakashi slapped a hand to his forehead. _Idiot! What kind of guy just goes and asks another man to sleep with him like that! Stupid! What a great house-guest I'm turning out to be… _he sulked _He'll probably just take me straight back to the hospital in the morning, after something like that._

Iruka stumbled into the bathroom and turned on the water, stepping under the taps fully dressed.

_Kakashi just… he just… he just asked me to sleep with him!?!?! What do I do!? Calm down Iruka, it's probably the drugs they've had him on, no reason to get my hopes up… Wait… Get my hopes up?? What does That mean!? I'm losing my mind! I need to calm down! Deep breaths… Oh Kami… _Iruka slowly peeled out of his clothing, the dark blue, skin-tight shirt clinging even more tenaciously, now that it was wet. His clothes in a soaking heap in the tub Iruka toweled off his hair, and wrapping the towel around his waist started towards his bedroom before remembering his 'houseguest' sleeping inside. He turned around and flopped back onto the couch, falling asleep almost instantly.

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The next morning Kakashi woke just before dawn, he glanced around the room, taking a moment to realize he wasn't at home, but not at the hospital either, he glanced at a plushie, _Ah that's right, I'm at Iruka's… Iruka…_ The memories of the night before came flooding back and with a groan Kakashi sat up, then swung his feet over the edge of the bed. With a slight wince he rose and carefully made his way to the doorway, pushing it open, he froze.

Iruka lay sprawled across the couch, his white towel still wrapped modestly around his waist. Kakashi's eyes traced up and down the tanned man's sleeping figure. Lean, tanned legs led up to a perfectly chiseled abdomen and sculpted chest that rose and fell slowly with his deep, even breathing. One dark arm lay draped across his flat stomach as the other dangled limply off the couch to rest on the floor. Broad shoulders rose into a gently curved neck and strong jaw-line. His dark lips were slightly parted beneath the scared nose, and thick, dark lashes lay feather soft against tanned cheeks. Iruka's hair had been released from his signature pony tail and fanned around him, framing his face and tracing chocolate rich tendrils down his neck.

Kakashi finally released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and, heart pounding wildly, carefully crossed the few steps to the couch, sliding his mask down below his chin. At the last second he veered away and sank into the chair, his palms were sweating.

_I… I was going to kiss him… just now… I… _he trembled slightly, _Dear kami… What should I do? _ His eyes fell back on Iruka, he felt his perfectly practiced self-control slipping away. _That isn't fair! _He groaned inwardly,_ No one, should be allowed to be that beautiful…_

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_Hope to see you next chapter!_


	13. Chapter 13

Ah, so this chapter is crazy long, and prolly should have been at least TWO chapters, but I was having fun and being an insomniac... so here you go.

(un-beta'd sry)

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Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto

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Kakashi sat stone still, just watching Iruka sleeping as the suns rosy rays crept in through window, and slid slowly across the floor till they reached the tanned teachers face. Iruka's tanned skin glowed a soft golden brown in the morning light, catching Kakashi in a spell as deep chocolate eyes blinked open, catching him with a sleepily quizzical stare.

"Ka…Kakashi?"

The pale jonin jumped, but recovered quickly, sliding his mask back into place, "Iruka-sensei you startled me." He grinned non-chalantly and slumped languidly in the chair "about time you woke up."

Iruka yawned and stretched, sitting up on the couch, his towel parting slightly to reveal a darkly muscular thigh.

Kakashi fought the urge to drool.

Iruka rolled his neck and stood, stretching some more, blissfully unaware of the teasing way his towel rode up as he did so, or the grey eye that watched him hungrily.

Fully awake now, Iruka smiled, "Would you like to shower before breakfast?"

Kakashi shrugged "That sounds fine."

Iruka nodded, then seemed to remember for the first time just what it was he was wearing... Or not wearing. A hot blush spread across his face, and Kakashi found himself unable to resist sending a lingering leer up and down the reddened chunin's body. He chuckled as Iruka tugged at the towel around his waist, trying in vain to tug the short towel lower without pulling it off. With an embarrassed glare, Iruka pulled Kakashi up off the chair, and looped his arm around his shoulder.

Iruka left Kakashi leaning against the sink as he gathered up his still wet clothes from the tub floor and placed them in the hamper, modestly tugging at his towel as he did so. Kakashi found himself disappointed, _I ran around butt flashing all last night, the least he could do would be to give me a little peek… _He recoiled, _What the hell is wrong with me! This is Iruka! He… he… He's a HE!!_ His eyes drifted up Iruka's back, coming to rest on the jagged scar etched between his shoulders.

A white hot fury erupted and scorched through his veins. His fist slammed into the wall, cracking several of the tiles there. Iruka whirled around

"Kakashi!?" the tan Chunin froze. Kakashi was breathing hard, and his grey eye gleamed madly. "Kakashi?" Iruka asked softly

"Huh?" Kakashi seemed to come back to himself, he glanced at the wall where his fist still rested, "I!" he jerked his hand away and glanced nervously at Iruka "Um… I'll pay for that!"he braced himself, waiting for a storm that didn't come.

Iruka rose, looking worried,

"Are you alright, Kakashi-sensei?"

"I'm fine"

He pressed a hand to Kakashi's forehead "You don't feel feverish…" he said more to himself than Kakashi, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes." Kakashi said stiffly, startled by their closeness

"Well, the tubs cleaned out, you can take a shower now."

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei." He said, with a curt nod.

Iruka gave him one last worried glance, before sliding past him. He shut the door softly behind him.

Kakashi pulled his mask down and braced himself with both hands on the sink. The rage that had torn through him had left him ragged and shaking. _I haven't felt like this since Obito…_ he didn't allow himself to finish the thought. He slid off the hospital gown and stepped into the shower, letting the cold water strike him as if the frigid water could somehow douse the vengeful burning that had ignited deep within his gut. He shivered and adjusted the temperature, letting the water slowly warm as it ran in small rivulets and streams down the sharp contours of his wiry frame. He let out a hiss as the now hot water traced across unhealed wounds, but the physical pain was a welcome distraction from the whirling emotions inside him.

At first he focused on the burning of the gash on his leg, but it began to fade as his body adjusted to the pain and his mind wandered back to the topic he'd been trying to avoid.

_Iruka… why him…_ Kakashi thought back to the early spring afternoon when they'd shared ramen together. He felt especially proud as he remembered the way he'd made Iruka laugh, but the smug smile faded as he recalled how he'd been late the following morning. _Even then I'd been nervous… why? _His mind recoiled from a dangerous thought and shifted into another direction _Perhaps the Chunin is dangerous? That's why I react so strangely around him? Perhaps he's even in league with his old partner?_ Kakashi nodded, allowing himself to sink into his comfort zone of borderline paranoia. Iruka posed some kind of threat, that explained his odd reactions, because there was just no way it could be the alternative, no way that He, Hatake Kakashi, the infamously perverted reader of pornographic novels, was falling for the straight-laced academy teacher. _I'll just play it natural and see what I can learn for now. _He decided.

His mind somewhat settled, he went about trying to wash his hair, wincing as he raised his arms above his head. A trickle of blood slid down his side fading into pink as it mixed with the water and he knew he'd ripped one of the stitches in his side. With a sigh he gave up on the hair washing and shut off the water. Wrapping a towel around his waist he shambled slowly into the living room, still dripping.

To his surprise, Iruka was gone. But a plate with eggs and sausage sat on the counter beside a glass of milk. He sat down, picking up the note that had been hastily scrawled beside his plate.

_**Kakashi-sensei,**_

_**I've gone to officially check you out of the hospital and pick up some supplies. I'll be back shortly. Make yourself at home. **_

Lowerdown the note, almost as an afterthought was written

_**Please rest.**_

_**-Iruka**_

Kakashi couldn't help but smile, '_please rest'… all that guy does is worry. What? no! I cannot allow myself to be lulled into complacency. He's still under investigation._ Kakashi stared hard at the note as if it might reveal something to support his "Iruka is an enemy" theory. He knew his suspicions were unfounded, and it bothered him how easily they were swept away. He clung to them desperately, what else was he supposed to do? They were his only lifeline to sanity.

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Iruka thanked the girl at the reception desk and collected all the articles that had come with Kakashi upon his arrival at the hospital. He momentarily considered going by the jonin's house to pick up clothes for him, but then decided against it. _I'm sure he's got the place heavily trapped, I'll just pick up clothes for him and charge it to mission expenses. _Iruka stopped off at a store to pick up some clothes for his house-guest, trying his best to guess at Kakashi's size. _He's taller than me, thinner too… _Iruka thought as he browsed.

"Can I help you find something?" the girl at the store asked,

"Ah, well, um…" Iruka blushed, he hated shopping, he always felt as if he were bothering the sales-people "I'm taking care of an injured friend, I was hoping to find something that'd be easy for him to get in and out of."

The girl nodded sympathetically

"Well, when my little brother broke his arm, my mom put him in these." She led him to a rack of simple yukata.

Iruka nodded, "That'll be perfect, thank you."

He selected a couple, paid, and made his way to the grocery store.

_I wonder what Kakahi likes to eat?_ He thought back, trying to remember if Naruto had ever mentioned anything about his second sensei's eating habits. _"He likes miso better than ramen! Can you believe that! With EGGPLANT!!"_ Iruka smiled to himself, then frowned trying to remember if that particular outburst had actually been about Kakashi, or if it had concerned Sasuke instead. He sighed,

"I was in such a rush to get out of the house, I didn't think to ask him what he'd like for dinner."

With a sigh he collected his groceries and made his way back to his apartment.

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Iruka stepped through the door,

"Kakashi-sensei?" he called quietly

No reply.

He crept silently to the bedroom, Kakashi lay sleeping, his silver hair a tuft peeking out above the sheets.

He closed the door and padded back to the kitchen. After putting away the groceries he sat with a sigh, unused to having so much free time and unsure of what to do with himself. He glanced at the bag the hospital had given him with Kakashi's belongings. Remember the soiled state of Kakashi's hitai-ite, Iruka pulled it from the bag and set to work washing the blood and dirt from it, and giving it a careful once-over with polish. Satisfied with his handiwork, he placed the hitai-ite on the carefully folded yukata and set them in a chair beside Kakashi's sleeping form with his bag of belongings from the hospital.

Finding nothing else to do for his unconscious guest, Iruka set about organizing old lesson plans and fretting about what state his class would be in when he returned.

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Kakashi woke to the sound of distracted humming in the other room. He lay silently listening for a few minutes. A smile creeping across his masked face, as the soft baritone notes drifted under the door. _His singing voice is lower than his normal voice… _ Kakashi noted, _but he has nice pitch…_ Quietly, so as not to alert the scarred man in the other room, Kakashi slid out of bed and sat naked on the edge, a silver glint caught his eye and he turned to find his hitai-ite sitting on a chair beside him. Happy to have the familiar garment back Kakashi cheerfully tied it over his eye. His sharingan, he'd noticed, had remained inactive since his return from the mission, but it was a comfort to have covered again nevertheless. He eyed the yukata that remained folded on the chair, and the bag next to it containing his book, flak jacket and weapons pouches. The rest of his uniform, he was sure, had been disposed of.

He slipped into the light cotton kimono and tied the obi like a sash around his waist. It fit like it'd been tailored and the dark grey color matched his eye perfectly. He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror, somehow, his mask just didn't fit, but he kept it on all the same.

Iruka looked up as Kakashi stepped into the room. He smiled,

"How are you feeling today?"

"Fine." Kakashi said quietly, his legs still felt weak, but he hated to admit it.

Iruka motioned for him to join him on the couch, he moved carefully, but steadily and sank gratefully down into the well stuffed cushions.

"Can I get you something?"

"Just a glass of water."

Iruka nodded and rose swiftly. Kakashi heard him open the cupboard, and the sound of a couple ice cubes being dropped into the glass, and then the tap running. Iruka returned, handing him the glass.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, Kakashi-sensei." Iruka flopped back onto the couch "Are you hungry?"

Kakashi shook his head

"Well, maybe in a couple hours. I bought the ingredients for miso with eggplant. I hope that's alright with you."

Kakashi brightened "My favorite."

Iruka chuckled, his hunch had been right. _Arigato, Naruto…_

"How's the fit?" Iruka asked, glancing towards the silver haired jonin next to him. _Stupid question Iruka… even a blind man'd be able to see it fits him perfectly… _he felt a blush spreading across his cheeks, as the one eyed gaze locked with his. _That color really brings out his eye… Like a storm… no wonder his signature move involves lightning. _

"Something caught your eye, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi smirked

"Huh? Um no… I was just thinking…" Iruka mumbled, his blush burning brighter.

"Thinking what?"

"Thinking… that…" It was Iruka's turn to smirk, "Thinking that your hair looks like it could use a washing."

Kakashi blinked for a moment, taken aback. Then began to laugh

"As a matter of fact it could." He chuckled, "I tried doing it myself, but I can't get my arms that high without pulling on the stitches."

Iruka was on him before he could blink, straddled across his lap and wrenching the yukata down off his shoulders.

"You ripped them didn't you!? I thought I saw blood on the bathroom floor! Kakashi! You need to take better care of yourself!" he scolded,

"What's this?" Kakashi teased, "Last night you were complaining about my only wearing a hospital gown and today you're ripping off my clothes yourself. Make up your mind Iruka-sensei. Do you want me dressed or don't you?"

Iruka back-pedaled and tripped over the coffee table, blushing furiously. "I… I… It's nothing like that!"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow

"I just… I… I'm going to get the first aid kit!" Iruka stormed towards the bathroom, his face cherry red. Kakashi sat chuckling to himself.

_I wonder if I'm pushing him too far?_

Iruka returned only moments later, scowling and still blushing furiously and set to work on Kakashi's side. Despite his obvious annoyance at the older man's teasing, Iruka's ministrations were gentle, as he cleaned and bandaged the wound.

Kakashi watched him with interest. A part of him liked knowing the worry that creased the tanned chunin's brow was for him. With a sigh, Iruka sat back and helped Kakashi shrug back into the yukata.

"I wish you would just ask me for help." He pouted "Instead of hurting yourself like this." He rose then, carrying the first aid kit back to the bathroom and re-emerging with shampoo in hand. He went to the kitchen then, dragging a chair with him and Kakashi listened to him filling the sink. After a few minutes, Iruka returned, a slight blush still warm on his cheeks. Iruka rolled up his sleeves.

"C'mon Kakashi-sensei," he said, not meeting the copy-nins eyes, "I'll wash your hair for you." He reached down and helped pull the jonin from the couch and together they made their way into the kitchen. Kakashi slid reluctantly into the chair and let Iruka tilt it back to let his head loll back into the sink.

"Here." Iruka said, lifting his head slightly and sliding a folded dish towel under him to help support his neck. Kakashi undid his hitai-ite and set it in his lap as Iruka cupped some of the warm water onto his head.

"It's not too hot is it?"

"It's fine."

Iruka nodded and continued to thoroughly wet Kakashi's hair, then squeezed the shampoo into his hand and began to gently massage it into Kakashi's scalp. Kakashi tensed at the excessive amount of human contact. But the chunin's strong fingers moved in practiced circles, subtly coaxing Kakashi to relax and lean into his tanned hands. Iruka smiled softly as the jonin, eyes closed, arched back slightly into his hands, and he took his time rinsing the suds from the silver hair.

Kakashi had begun to drift off when Iruka tilted his chair back to four legs. A soft towel draped over his head and Iruka began to dry his hair. The tanned fingers once again gently massaging his scalp,

"Hnn… Ruka…" Kakashi murmured sleepily "feels good."

Iruka's hands came to an abrupt halt as his cheeks began to burn, he peeked below the towel.

"I don't believe it…" he said to himself, "He fell asleep on me."

With a sigh he gathered up Kakashi, and carried him bridal-style back into the bedroom.

"Tsunade was right when she said it'd take a while for you to recover your stamina." He said softly. "I wish you'd take better care of yourself." He pulled the sheets over him, "I'll wake you when dinner's ready."

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	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto

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Mizuki=AU

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After his double-spotting, the security around Konoha had tightened significantly, making it impossible for Mizuki to move. But now, after almost a month and a half without his resurfacing, things had once again began to settle into calm.

Mizuki smiled _If they've assumed that I've moved on, they assume wrong. _

The missing-nin sat camouflaged against a roof across the street from Iruka's apartment. He watched as Iruka entered the room to wake Kakashi, who, despite all outward appearances of being healed, still showed occasional sluggishness (for Kakashi) thanks to the internal injuries that had yet to fully heal. Mizuki went over a list in his head of all the things he'd learned while observing the two nin.

The first was that Kakashi had yet to fully recover physically

The second was that the legendary-copy nin, was still un-allowed to utilize any of his any chakra

The third, and most irritating fact, was that Umino Iruka, had fallen in love.

Mizuki felt the fury in him build, but quelled it quickly, another thing he'd learned while observing the two nin was that any fluctuations in his carefully hidden chakra would instantly alert them to his presence. Still, he didn't trust himself, and took off over the rooftops before returning to his hideout, an abandoned basement, several blocks over. As he reset the wards that rendered his hideout all but invisible to the casual observer, Mizuki's mind whirled.

_If I don't strike soon, Kakashi will recover… Even without his chakra, he's a formidable opponent. Against both him and Iruka I can't hope to win… but separately… _He thought back to his last battle with Iruka, where the Chunin had sacrificed himself in order to protect the blonde. He was certain, that Iruka wouldn't hesitate to throw himself in harm's way to save his beloved jonin, but Mizuki didn't want Iruka dead. He wanted him to suffer. _With someone like Kakashi I can't count on a second strike. He has to die with the first… But Iruka and his reckless defense tactics… I could kill him instead, and this whole endeavor would become nothing more than an exercise in futility… Iruka must be out of harm's way before I move against Hatake Kakashi._

The pieces began to click into place as Mizuki laid out his plans. He smiled. _Iruka really IS too kind-hearted._

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So yeah, this chapter was like half-way to demonic, I'm aware of that. It's Super-short and I managed to get through the whole thing without really telling you ANYTHING... Gomenasai.

But, the good news is that I intend to post something a little more... substantial... later tonight or tomorrow.

I just wanted to get this out of the way while on my lunch break, so I could concentrate on the "fun stuff" later.

till then!


	15. Chapter 15

Up faster than I planned, but I hated that blip of a last chapter anyway. And for anyone not paying attention to that BARELY MENTIONED time-skip in the last chapter, it's been about a month and a half since Kakashi was hospitalized. Figure he spent about 1 week in the hospital, and has been at Iruka's for roughly 5, give or take a few days.  
Everyone cool with that? Good deal!

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Disclaimer - I don't own Naruto

-----------------------------------------

Mizuki = AU

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3 days later, Iruka stepped out into the overcast afternoon. Kakashi was reclining on the couch, engrossed in one of his "Icha Icha" novels, and Iruka decided to take the opportunity to complete some much needed grocery shopping.

Kakashi had started accompanying him on the shopping excursions, but only when the weather was nice and there wasn't much to carry. A rule Iruka himself had laid as he worried constantly about the recovering nin over-exerting himself if they had to make a mad dash to get out of the rain. As far as he could tell "taking it easy" didn't exist in the jonin's world and any excuse to try and push his battered body was a good one.

He shot a glance at the sky, today certainly looked like rain. Iruka grinned to himself. _He really is a handful._

Although he'd probably never admit it, his home felt more like… a home… since Kakashi had come to live with him. He used to work late at the school and the mission room, just to avoid going back to the empty apartment, but now he almost hated to leave. He smiled again and turned the corner into an alley – his short-cut to the grocery store, his blood froze.

"Nice to see you again, Iruka."

"Mizuki!" Iruka hissed, chocolate eyes burning.

"That's not a very nice expression, my old friend." Mizuki pouted, circling slowly to drive Iruka further into the alley.

"You're no friend of mine." He growled, thumbing a kunai dangerously

Mizuki smiled, he was all too aware of Iruka's legendary accuracy with a projectile, he got to his point quickly.

"Take care now, I have set a trap, Iruka, in your home."

"I don't believe you, Kakashi would have noticed."

"He didn't notice when my jutsu put him to sleep." Mizuki smirked, pulling out a strand of unmistakable silver hair.

"What have you done to him!?" Iruka moved faster than Mizuki had expected, slamming him into the far wall, kunai at his throat. His normally soft brown eyes suddenly dark with fury.

"Protective, aren't you Iruka."

Iruka ignored the jibe, "What have you done to him." He demanded again, Mizuki was unable to suppress a shiver. He'd seen Iruka snap plenty of times, seen the raging fury of the tanned teacher. But this was only the second time he'd ever seen Iruka mad enough to come full circle. Every fiber in his ex-partner's body was deadly calm, and poised to take his head in an instant. He smiled, knowing any slip on his part would be lethal.

"He's merely sleeping, for now. He'll be awake by the time you return. If you cooperate of course."

"No." Iruka pushed the kunai farther into Mizuki's neck, drawing a small stream of blood.

"Oh come now, Iruka." Mizuki scoffed, "You think I'm unaware of Kakashi's condition. Think I don't know how SLOWLY his stamina has been in returning. He can't even make the hike to the monument without stopping to rest. Or how about the fact that his chakra channels are so badly damaged that he can't even USE them. To uncover his sharingan right now, would more than likely kill him. Your precious copy-nin, is more helpless than a pre-genin student, Iruka-sensei." He sneered the last word, making it sound more like an insult than a title.

He saw the change in Iruka's eyes, though the Chunin still kept his blade at his throat. "I don't even have to be there to kill him." He smiled cruelly, "like I said, the trap is already set. If you kill me, Kakashi dies as well. Your only choice is to cooperate."

Iruka's eyes were still angry, but his fear had softened their edge, Mizuki crowed triumphantly to himself. He had won.

"What do you want from me." Iruka asked, dropping the blade.

"You will do your shopping and return home as usual. You will tell Kakashi that you ran into an old friend and will be gone for a few days to catch up. Then you will come to me, Alone."

"He'll know it's you."

"He will suspect that it is me. But will have no proof, and because you will be leaving of your own will, it will not be a kidnapping, he will not be able to call for help. You, Iruka, will be a traitor to the village. You will lose everything, your position, your friends, your country, everything. You will leave them all, to join me."

Iruka's kunai embedded itself in the wall beside Mizuki's face,

"If anything happens to him, you WILL die, Mizuki." Iruka turned and continued down the alley. Mizuki smiled, and returned to his vantage point outside Iruka's apartment.

_I don't have to worry about him trying to sneak off and turn me in. He's too concerned about the copy-nin's safety to risk that. He'll do exactly as he's told, sacrificing himself to save another. Poor little Iruka… he's so predictable… and so pathetic._

*****************************************************************************

Iruka returned to his apartment with more groceries than Kakashi would have expected.

"What's all this?" the jonin asked with a yawn, he stiffened when he saw Iruka's face. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing!" Iruka smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes

Kakashi eyed him suspiciously

"What's going on?"

"Oh nothing much, I just ran into an old friend at the grocer's is all."

Kakashi kept him pinned with a one eyed stare, "So you invited them to dinner, is that what all this is for." He knew it wasn't, but he wanted to keep the Chunin talking.

"Ah… I'm afraid not. He invited me back to his place, so you'll be on your own for dinner tonight. But you should be fine, you know your way around here well enough by now. And I thought you could use a night to yourself." The lies were rolling easily off his tongue now. _Anything to keep him safe…_ Iruka thought desperately, _Anything…_

"No, no." Kakashi said, a little flatly, then softened "I'd much rather you stay here to keep me company."

Iruka blushed and Kakashi reached out to snatch his wrist

"Why don't you just invite your friend here? We'll make a real night of it." His grey eye kept Iruka rooted to the spot as his face hovered just inches from the scarred chunin's.

"Ah… well… my friend is shy… you see… and he's been recently injured… it's really safer… better… for everyone if I just go to him…" _Dammit I can't think with him this close!_

Iruka turned away and took a couple steps towards the door. Kakashi glared, unable to contain the anger that had begun to boil in him. Iruka was lying to him and they both knew it.

"It's Mizuki, isn't it! You're running off to join that traitor!"

Iruka stiffened, his clenched fist shaking

"What I choose to do is MY decision Hatake Kakashi! I owe you nothing! No reasons. No explanations. Nothing!"

"But you owe the guy who stabbed you in the back something! Is that right!"

"It's none of your concern!" Iruka shouted

Just then the sky broke with a deafening thunderclap. Iruka threw open the door

"Those who'd abandon their friends… are worse than scum." Kakashi said flatly.

"That's exactly why I'm leaving." Iruka hissed. Then disappeared into the rain.

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Ah yay! Plot moving forward again!


	16. Chapter 16

I'm one of those people who never knows what's going to happen in a story until I've written it.  
So, I don't know about the rest of you, but **I** for one, was a bit upset when Iruka left. So I spent like ALL night writing and I got like three chapters done! w00t, go me. But, becuase I wrote them late at night, they're probably in serious need of editing, and while I probably won't bother to have them beta'd, I feel I should at least PROOFREAD them before posting, so I'm at least making SOME attempt at keeping up the quality of this piece.  
So, you can prolly expect them some time later today.

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Disclaimer - don't own, just for fun

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Kakashi felt numb.

He stood staring into the rain where Iruka's form had vanished. He couldn't think… couldn't move… couldn't do anything… anything except stand there, staring into the rain.

Some small part of his brain might have been screaming …_go after him…_ but it was so soft the rest of him couldn't hear it.

Mizuki watched, a grin plastered on his face,

"Go ahead and break, Hatake Kakashi. I'll grant you your death soon enough." He glanced off in the direction Iruka had run, _I'll check back on Kakashi later._ He decided, and without bothering to hide his presence from the jonin, loped off after Iruka.

***********************************************************************

Iruka stood shaking in the same alley Mizuki had cornered him only a few hours ago. Mizuki landed beside him. Iruka eyed him coldly.

"Follow me." Mizuki said quietly.

Iruka nodded. _Kakashi's alive… he's safe… that's all that matters… just so long as I can keep him safe… I won't fail this mission! _

Mizuki led him to a basement. Iruka was startled at how close the location was to his apartment.

_He's been this close the entire time… and I never realized it!?_

"To the wall" Mizuki ordered

Iruka said nothing, but cross the room obediently.

A pair of manacles hung from a pipe, Iruka didn't resist as Mizuki lifted his arms and clapped them around his wrists.

"These disrupt the wearer's channels, effectively preventing them from using their chakra. I hope you enjoy them." He patted Iruka's cheek. Iruka stared silently ahead.

"Ah well." Mizuki shrugged, "you'll warm up to me eventually. We'll be best of friends again. It'll be just like old times."

Iruka remained silent.

"Well, if you don't want to talk to me, perhaps I should go pay the jonin a visit? Or how about the blonde brat? Rumor has it he's on his way back to Konoha as we speak."

"Leave them alone Mizuki! You swore that if I…"

"Now, now Iruka! You're being greedy! There's two of them, and only ONE of you, that's not much of a bargain for me now is it."

"I did as you asked! I left of my own will! I'm a traitor now! Isn't that what you wanted!?"

Mizuki smiled, "Iruka, you think so small. I have much more in store for you, but for now, I need to know what course of action your precious copy-nin has taken."

"Let him be! Mizuki! MIZUKI!!!!!" Iruka roared, but the white haired nin had already vanished out the window.

Mizuki practically skipped across the rooftops, knowing full well that Iruka would fret himself sick the entire time he was gone, worrying about a jonin he had no intention of killing just yet.

He was surprised however, to find Kakashi still standing exactly where Iruka had left him. The rain was beginning to pool inside the door as the gusting wind blew it into the copy-nin's face. _He hasn't even moved… Could breaking Hatake Kakashi really have been this easy? There's just no way…_

*****************************************************************************

Kakashi felt _numb_.

A small part of his brain slowly whirled back into motion.

It knew he was cold and wet, and getting colder and wetter by the minute. But that didn't seem very important somehow.

It knew the rain was coming in and probably ruining the floor. But that didn't seem to matter very much either.

It knew Iruka had left…

And suddenly…

Kakashi _hurt_.

He felt as if his chest had been ripped open, and the pain swam through him. He sank slowly to his knees. His hands were shaking. But that was just the cold, wasn't it?

Iruka had left him… betrayed him… gone to Mizuki… Abandoned his mission… his friend…

_Were we friends? Perhaps, I was __**just**__ a mission to him?_

Gentle chocolate eyes swam into Kakashi's mind, the low, rich sound of Iruka softly singing when he thought no one was listening, Iruka smiling… Iruka laughing… Iruka cooking him meals… Iruka's eyes full of concern, asking him if he was alright… Iruka washing his hair… Iruka's voice saying " 'Good morning Kakashi-sensei' Goodnight Kakashi-sensei' "… Iruka getting mad and yelling at him...

_Iruka… _

_Iruka… _

_Iruka…_

"Iruka…" his grey eye burned, and something hot slid down his cheek and melted into the cold, wet fabric of his rain soaked mask.

Finally, Kakashi stood and closed the door, then made his way to bathroom, peeling out of his clothes and dropping them in a pile on the floor. He stepped into the shower, turning up the heat. As his pale skin reddened beneath the onslaught of the near scalding water, Kakashi's pain… turned to anger.

Iruka HAD been a traitor. He'd suspected it all along. The strange jumpy feeling he got when the Chunin was near. He should have known, should have seen it coming from the start. Umino Iruka had betrayed Konoha for the sake of his lifelong friend and former partner.

_Umino Iruka – TRAITOR._ The words echoed in his head.

His anger gave him purpose, placed him back on secure footing… But it couldn't fill the void that had opened in his chest.

Kakashi's brain whirled with facts and information for the report he'd have to file the following morning on Iruka's betrayal.

But his heart lay bleeding in his chest, crying out desperately to Iruka

_just… come… home…_

_******************************************************************************************_


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer - I don't own

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Iruka stood chained to the wall, his mind a swirling vortex of worry. He snapped his head up as Mizuki returned. The white haired Chunin grinned,

"Your precious boyfriend's a wreck, Iruka. It might have been kinder just to let me kill him."

Iruka said nothing, but his brown eyes burned with fury.

Mizuki sighed, and crossed the room,

"So stubborn…" he cupped Iruka's chin, "But maybe that's what I like about you. Let's play a little game, shall we."

He slid a kunai up the front of Iruka's shirt, leaving a thin red scratch up the tanned planes of Iruka's stomach and chest. Iruka remained motionless. Mizuki grinned, quickly slicing apart the rest of Iruka's shirt, letting the pieces fall to the cold floor.

Tiny beads of blood began to appear along the scratch inflicted on Iruka. Mizuki grinned maliciously and bent to trace his tongue up the thin crimson line. His grin widened as Iruka shuddered at his touch. But the academy teacher remained silent, eyes staring straight ahead.

Mizuki smiled,

"Ah… you really _are_ stubborn. I wonder what it will take, to break that will of yours, Iruka."

"More than you can dish out." Iruka glared defiantly

Mizuki growled, roughly cupping Iruka's crotch, he was rewarded by the tanned man's sharp hiss. He leaned forward to growl into Iruka's ear, "I wouldn't be so sure of that."

He turned away then, flipping onto a cot, and shutting off the light. Leaving Iruka to stand, shivering against the cold wall for the night.

*****************************************************************************

Kakashi sat miserably in Iruka's empty living room.

He'd written the report, detailing his suspicions and their confirmation that Iruka was a traitor.

He hadn't turned it in yet.

He didn't know why.

Iruka had been gone for NINE days now.

But Kakashi remained in his apartment.

He couldn't bring himself to leave.

He didn't know why.

_I'm NOT waiting for him._ He told himself over and over. _He betrayed us all! He's worse than scum! He… _Images flashed into Kakashi's head.

The concerned way the chunin had hovered over him at the hospital, the speed and accuracy with which he could fling a projectile at someone's head, the way he always rose early to make them both breakfast. The patience he'd shown in Kakashi's recovery, the way their afternoon walks had started with just a jaunt around the block, but had slowly increased till the point where, once a week, they would visit the memorial. Iruka had always hung back, allowing Kakashi to climb the hill and visit the stone monument alone. There had even been a time when Kakashi had returned to find Iruka asleep beneath a tree at the hills base, and when he looked at the sun, he realized several hours had passed. But the chunin never complained, he simply took everything in stride. Kakashi felt his chest tighten, and the void Iruka had left in him gaped open once more.

*****************************************************************************

Mizuki was bored.

It was too hot on the roofs to spend all day spying on Kakashi, he'd have to come up with something else. He glanced over at Iruka, the chunin had refused to let him feed him, and finally he'd been forced to cut him down so that he could feed himself before he starved to death. He now lay sleeping on his back, hands bound above his head, in chakra infused rope to an extra cot Mizuki had procured. The teacher's dark, muscular body was tantalizingly inviting. Mizuki crossed the room, catching Iruka's foot and tying it quickly to the corner before the chunin could fully come awake. By the time Iruka woke enough to be coherent, both his feet had been secured and Mizuki was checking the bonds on his wrists.

Startled and confused he looked around frantically. Mizuki smiled cruelly and hopped onto the cot, straddling Iruka's hips.

He yanked the tie from Iruka's hair and twisted his fingers into chocolate locks. With another cruel grin he crushed his mouth to Iruka's, forcing the other's open as his tongue slid inside. Iruka recoiled at the feel of the other's tongue violating his mouth, but it was nothing next to the pale bony fingers that slid down his pants, groping him. He tried to twist away, but Mizuki had him pinned beneath him. He struggled silently as the persistent hand continued to grope him, and the heavier chunin began to slowly grind against him.

Iruka's mind fled, seeking refuge in his memories.

_Kakashi…_

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

"Good morning Kakashi" he smiled, as Kakashi emerged sleepily from the bedroom. "How are you feeling today?"

"Maa, fine, fine. You worry too much." The grey eye crinkled in a smile, and after seating himself at the counter he spoke, nonchalantly "It's Thursday."

"So it is." Iruka said, feigning ignorance

"It's sunny." Kakashi pressed again

"Hmm… how about that?"

"It's Thursday and sunny." Kakashi said, a little more insistently

Iruka turned towards the stove to hide his grin. _He's just like Naruto sometimes…_ "Is there something special about sunny Thursdays?"

Catching on to the chunin's game, Kakashi pouted theatrically "You forgot!?"

Iruka couldn't contain his chuckle, "Remind me."

"We walk to the monument on Thursdays!" Kakashi grinned with almost Naruto-like enthusiasm, as he sipped at the juice that had been waiting for him at the table. Iruka shook his head smiling. It was a stupidly childish game, something more suited to a pair of hormonally intoxicated adolescents than two grown men. Yet it was a game they played every week, and somehow neither of them ever seemed to tire of it.

*****************************************

Mizuki's tongue traced down his jawline, and his pale fingers fiddled with the fly of Iruka's pants. He stared blankly at the ceiling, retreating once more into his memories.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Iruka glanced over at the nin walking beside him. The pale jonin's eye was bright with determination, but he looked tired, and his steps were beginning to stumble. Iruka spotted a bench outside a small flower shop.

"Ah… This is a long, hot walk and I'm terribly out of shape. Desk jobs you know." Iruka smiled at Kakashi, "Would you mind, Kakashi-sensei, if we took a short break?"

Kakashi nodded, and the two nin sank onto the shady bench

"Ah! Much better." Iruka sighed, leaning back against the cool building

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei."

"Hnn? For what? Being old and fat?" Iruka grinned, head still leaning back against the wall

"For being so conscious… of my pride."

Iruka opened and eye and glanced towards Kakashi, meeting the grey gaze

"I don't know what you're talking about." He grinned again, closing his eye once more, "I'm just an out-of-shape school teacher who needed a break."

Kakashi chuckled, sliding cool fingers over to rest on top of Iruka's.

Iruka's heart jumped in his chest, and after a moment he risked a peek at Kakashi. But the copy-nin sat just as he did, eyes closed, head leaning back against the coolness of the wall. Iruka smiled and relaxed again as well.

Ino glanced out the window,

"They look like a pair of old men." She scoffed, shaking her head. But then couldn't resist a second peek, she smiled, "Or maybe they look like lovers."

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Mizuki was growing annoyed, Iruka's face remained completely impassive and the chunin kept his glazed eyes fixed on the ceiling. _Whimper... Cry... Struggle! SOMETHING!_

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The rain was growing louder, Iruka glanced up from his book, Kakashi sat reading one of his novels at the other end of the couch. They'd been like that for over an hour, not saying anything. It was… comfortable… Iruka decided. He liked having someone there, liked not having to fill every minute with inane chatter, but just to spend a rainy afternoon sitting quietly beside one another. For a brief moment, he wished he owned a love-seat instead of a full length couch, so they might sit closer together, but that would be dumb. Where would he sleep?

Kakashi seemed to sense him staring at him, because the grey eye looked up and caught his chocolate gaze. The copy-nin grinned and stretched with an over-exhaggerated yawn, his long arm trailing across the back of the couch, and his hand coming to rest behind Iruka's head. As his eye fell back to his book, his fingers began to absently twiddle with the trailing ends of Iruka's pony-tail. The Chunin smiled, noting the tell-tale signs of a grin behind Kakashi's mask, he went back to his book, slouching lower on the couch and tossing his feet up onto the coffee table. Reveling in the way Kakashi's nimble fingers twisted and twirled in his hair, _seemingly_ of their own accord. He smiled again… This felt more than just comfortable… it felt _right…_

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Mizuki pushed himself off Iruka, this wasn't as fun as he'd hoped it to be. Iruka had found someplace to escape to and with a jealous shudder, he was sure he could guess where. _If keeping him here isn't enough to break him, perhaps I'll try putting him to work for me. _

Kakashi had spent most of his time since Iruka's departure in something of a daze, but eventually he'd have to realize he was running low on food, they'd pay a visit to Iruka's apartment then.

****************************************************************

Mizuki's plan went into action two days later.

Iruka woke to the sound of Naruto yelling. At first he thought it a dream, then his blood froze as he remembered where he was. He looked across the room to see Naruto struggling against chakra ropes in a chair.

"Let Iruka-sensei go! Iruka! Iruka!" Naruto's blue eyes glared at Mizuki as the blonde continued to struggle. "You said if I came here you'd let Iruka-sensei go."

"Hnn." Mizuki crossed the room, "seems your favorite pupil is just as stupid and self-sacrificing as you are. Iruka-sensei." He sneered

"Let the boy go." Iruka shook with fury, but there was fear there too. _He loathes Naruto… I can't let him hurt him… I have to get Naruto out of here!_

"Sure… I'll let him go… but only AFTER you successfully complete a mission for me."

Iruka blanched, knowing he wouldn't like any mission assigned by Mizuki, but he glanced again at glaring blue eyes,

"I'll do it."

*********************************************************************

"Oi! Pervert-sennin! Can we go now? We're only like, 4 days from Konoha! I wanna go home! I'm tired of hanging around this bath-house! And you're not even training me! You're just peeping in on the women!"

"Will you shut up Naruto!" Jiraiya growled, nimbly dodging a bucket that came flying over the bath-house dividing wall.

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Iruka followed Mizuki across the rooftops, slipping into his own apartment. He realized with an inward groan that the normally paranoid Kakashi had left without his flak jacket OR the pouch he normally wore strapped to his leg. _Kami forgive me…What have I done? _ He thought as he and Mizuki quickly gathered up all the weapons he kept in his apartment.

He quickly slid a kunai under the bed as he followed Mizuki back out the window and towards the basement. Noting the message Mizuki left for Kakashi in the raided room.

_Whatever he's planning… I have to stop him... Dammit Naruto, why are you even here!?_

He slipped back into the basement. Glancing to the empty chair Naruto had been tied in.

"Mizu…" A sharp crack hit the back of his head, and everything faded into darkness.

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When Iruka came too, his head felt like it'd been split in two, and he'd been shackled to the pipe again. Mizuki was nowhere in sight. Iruka felt a lump of ice settle into his stomach.

_Kakashi!!_

_************************************************************************************_

Alright, 'cause I know I've got at least ONE reader who's ALREADY mad at Iruka, and he's spent he second half of this chapter being... well... a superbly gullible moron really... Go ahead and be mad, that's fine, and I love hearing from you guys, even if you're angry with me, or a character...  
But try to keep in mind that the poor guys been locked in a basement for like (I think I said 9 days or so) he's cold, half starved, and pretty sleep deprived, he really can't be expected to be all there in the brain department.  
I hope that helps to quell any raging fury... and if it doesn't... well... feel free to yell about it!


	18. Chapter 18

Hmm... Iruka's finally rediscovered.... his brain! Sort of... okay maybe not so much... enjoy it anyway.  
I had fun writing this!

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disclaimer - I own nothing... :(

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Iruka forced his sluggish body to respond, pulling himself to where his hands could reach the collar of his flak jacket, he ripped a small tear in the collar with his teeth and began the painstaking process of pulling out the wire hidden within. His arms began to shake from the strain of holding himself up and the manacles cut deeply into his wrists. He didn't care… his only thought was reaching Kakashi.

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Mizuki crashed through the window to land on Kakashi's sleeping form, but the jonin had sensed his killing intent and lay waiting for him. He mentally cursed Iruka for having stolen all his weapons. The sting of Iruka's betrayal was still sharp and bleeding in his heart, as he tumbled off the bed, wrestling to keep Mizuki's dangerously dripping kunai from making contact with his skin.

He hit the floor hard, pain wracking his entire body, his strength wasn't what it should be, and Mizuki knew it. The white haired Chunin grinned maliciously.

"Still not fully recovered, eh Kakashi?" he sneered, eyeing the way Kakashi needed two hands to stave off his one. With his free hand he reached up to take hold of Kakashi's mask, "I want to see your face before you die, _**Legendary**_ Copy-Nin."

Kakashi growled, as his mask was ripped away, but could do nothing to stop it. Mizuki sneered as he traced a finger down Kakashi's jaw-line, "A waste of a handsome face." He cackled, "What a shame that your so-called care-taker Is, and always Has been, Mine… Ah… the things I've done to him…" Kakashi felt a rage he couldn't explain burn through him, and out of the corner of his eye spotted the kunai Iruka had missed beneath the bed. _He didn't miss it. Iruka's too careful, too clean, he left it on purpose…_Deflecting Mizuki's poisoned weapon to the side, his long arm shot out and his fingers wrapped around the small throwing weapon and he whirled back, slashing at Mizuki's face as the white haired nin skipped backwards.

Kakashi flipped to his feet, taking a defensive stance.

"Have you ever heard of the _Lover's Scorn_, Copy-nin Kakashi?" Mizuki smiled, Kakashi didn't respond, "It's a lovely poison. A single scratch puts it into your bloodstream, and the victim spends the next eight endless hours writhing in pain as the poison makes them feel like they're burning alive from the inside out. There is no antidote, and even if your heart doesn't give out in the midst of it, the mental damage this kind of suffering inflicts is irreparable. I cannot wait to watch your face, Hatake Kakashi, as this poison consumes you."

He'd been warned countless times since his return that he was absolutely, under no circumstances, to use his sharingan, or any chakra for that matter, but he couldn't see another choice, he only had one kunai, and he couldn't rely on his taijutsu with his stamina still so abysmally low.

All at once, everything slipped into slow motion.

Kakashi's hand slipped towards his hitai-ite, as Mizuki released the poisoned kunai. From the window a voice screamed, and suddenly Iruka stood before him.

"Please don't… Kakashi-sensei…" he smiled, his tanned hand curled gently around Kakashi's wrist.

Mizuki screamed in frustration and darted for the window, Kakashi sent his own kunai flying, catching the escaping ninja in the leg as he flew outside.

"Idiot!" Kakashi roared, grabbing a fistful of Iruka's shirt, "I AM NOT NARUTO! HOW DARE YOU…" the words caught in his throat, _How dare you sacrifice yourself for me!_

Iruka smiled again, his chocolate eyes full of pain, "It was my mission to see that you recovered fully."

"Not at the expense of yourself!" Kakashi growled, carefully removing the kunai from Iruka's back and tossing it aside.

"Wasn't it you who said 'those who abandon their friends… are worse than scum.'" Iruka took a ragged breath, "Besides… I finally got to see your whole face."

Kakashi continued to glare angrily

"Bad Joke?" Iruka trembled slightly, "Sorry… Kakashi…"

"Baka! You…"

Iruka dropped to his knees, and the blood in Kakashi's veins froze as the animalistic scream ripped itself from Iruka's throat. He stared, grey eye wide as Iruka's scream faded to a whimper and the Chunin collapsed trembling on the floor.

Unthinkingly, Kakashi gathered him in his arms and fled towards the hospital, wincing as a second soul-shattering scream tore from the now senseless chunin. _Those who abandon their friends… are worse than scum… _His own words haunted him as he ignored the protestations of his body. _This is all my fault. I could have gone after him and I didn't. I KNEW something wasn't right that day, but I let him go. I was so eager to confirm my suspicions! So eager to find a reason not to care! Dammit! _Iruka screamed again, startling the people on the street below them.

Kakashi forced his legs to speed up, ignoring the pain that ripped through him. It should have been a comfort, should have made him feel better to know he was in pain as well. But the guilt was too deep, even as he ran, he was drowning in it.

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	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer - Don't own.

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Tsunade stood uneasily, watching Kakashi, who paced back and forth outside Iruka's room like a caged animal.

"Dammit Kakashi stop!" Tsunade snapped, forcing the silver-haired jonin into a chair. "You're about to drop! Just… SIT THERE!" she rubbed her temple, wincing as Iruka's tortured scream ripped from the room.

"DO SOMETHING FOR HIM!" Kakashi yelled, his grey eye almost maniacal.

Tsunade's shoulder's sagged,

"We've been through this already… there isn't an antidote to this particular poison. We just have to let it run its course. The best we can do is give him something to knock him out… To try and dull the pain that way… And we've already done that…"

"Then why is he still screaming?" Kakashi's voice was haggard, he looked years older than he should have.

"Kakashi… you should go home and rest. You're still not up for something like this. You've got another month of recovery time. Probably more, the way you've worn yourself out today…" She put a hand on his shoulder, he pushed it away.

"No."

"Kakashi…"

"No." he stood and walked back into Iruka's room. Tsunade followed him, she knew what to expect, she'd already seen Iruka, but it didn't stop her heart from clenching.

The tan chunin's face was paler than Kakashi's, and he shivered in a feverish sweat. Kakashi slumped into the chair in the corner.

The medical nin looked up from his clipboard.

"We've given him the sedative… but…"

"He's still in pain." Tsunade finished for him

He nodded. "I don't know what else to do, any pain killer we give him is liable to send him into cardiac arrest…"

There was a cracking noise and both the medical nin and Tsunade glanced to the corner where Kakashi sat gripping the armrest so tightly he'd cracked the plastic.

"How much longer till it's out of his system?" Tsunade asked, forcing the nin's eyes back to her and away from the tortured jonin.

The Medic looked at his watch, "It's been over seven hours now, it should wear off by eight, but…" his voice dropped and he whispered, "Shizune said the last half hour would be the worst…"

Another cracking sound came from the corner and Tsunade dismissed the medic.

"Kakashi…" she took a step towards him

"No."

"He wouldn't want you to see him like this."

Kakashi snorted

"He wouldn't want anyone to. He'd worry about 'being a bother' to them."

Tsunade smiled, "That's just like him isn't it."

Iruka's scream erupted and the pale chunin thrashed wildly

"Hold him down!" Tsunade yelled, but Kakashi had already swung onto the bed, using his weight to keep Iruka pinned beneath him. Iruka's blood-curdling scream continued longer than Kakashi would have thought possible, then as quickly as it began, it stopped. Tsunade pressed her fingers to the side of Iruka's neck, breathing a sigh of relief as his racing pulse began to drop back down towards normal levels.

"Kakashi…" she said softly, the jonin was still perched on top of her patient, "It's over… You can get down now."

He slid off onto the floor. _Why am I shaking so badly? Iruka…_ He was so lost in his own thoughts he didn't notice the needle in Tsunade's hands until it was too late.

"Dammit…old lady…" he mumbled as he slumped against her. Stroking the unkept silver hair, she sighed softly "It's over now Kakashi, you're going to kill yourself if you don't get some rest. And all Iruka's hard work in helping you recover will be wasted."

*********************************************************************

Kakashi's eyes blinked open, he was lying in a hospital bed. _Dammit, how'd I end up in here again._ He glanced to his side. Iruka sat fully dressed on top of the sheets in the bed next to him, staring up at the ceiling.

"Iruka!" Kakashi sat up, swinging his legs down, he stumbled to the other's side. "Are you alright?"

Iruka nodded once, and gave the jonin a small smile, but it didn't reach his eyes.

Tsunade walked in

"Kakashi, a word with you."

A lump of ice settled into his stomach as the copy-nin followed Tsunade out the door into the hallway.

"What's wrong with him?" Kakashi asked,

Tsunade sighed and wrapped her arms around herself, as she slumped against the wall. "He's completely shell-shocked… barely said a word since he woke up."

"How long has he been awake?"

"About 18 hours."

"How long did you keep me under." He glared, his eye narrowing,

Tsunade looked guilty

"About two days… 40 hours or so." _It was for your own good you stupidly suicidal jonin_ "I want you to continue staying with him."

"No."

Tsunade looked surprised, "I thought you two were getting along well, and up until this incident, your recovery has been going better than I had dared to hope."

"Then you thought wrong."

"This wasn't your fault, Kakashi. Iruka made his own decisions."

"I let him go. I could have stopped him and I didn't." his fist landed hard against the wall next to her face. "He's better off alone. And so am I…"

Tsunade fought the urge to punch him, in a purely Iruka-style outburst she grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him down to her eye level as she yelled "You STUPID, THICK HEADED, EGOTISTICAL JONIN!!! You're going to abandon the man you love to nurse your stupid PRIDE!? You think I don't understand how that straw-stuffed skull of yours works! It's my JOB to know how it works! And if you think for one second that I'll allow you to just run off and sulk because you want to blame this all on yourself you can think again! It isn't always about you!" Her voice softened, and she released Kakashi, "It's about Iruka, and trust me Kakashi… he _needs_ you." _Maybe as much as you need him. Kami! If he only had a brain! _

She switched back into her medic-nin mode, "He's showing signs of post-traumatic stress, but it's really only to be expected under his circumstances. If these symptoms persist for more than a month then we'll have to start looking at long-term treatments. But for now, I think having you with him will be therapeutic. Besides," her eyes sparkled mischieviously, "The first thing he said when he woke up and saw you snoring in the bed next to him was that he'd like to be allowed to complete his mission." _Actually… it's the ONLY thing he's said…_

"Iruka said that…" Kakashi glanced at the door.

Tsunade chuckled and clapped him on the back, "Give Iruka some credit, that little chunin's tougher than you think." _I just hope he's tougher than we ALL think…_

"One more thing…" she said catching Kakashi's sleeve as he stepped towards the door.

"What?"

She pressed a small bottle of pills into his hands

"One of the symptoms of shell-shock is hyperactivity causing insomnia, in the eighteen hours since he first woke, Iruka hasn't slept, and not because he hasn't tried. Part of it may have been his concern for you… you were rather heavily sedated…" Kakashi's eye narrowed, Tsunade ignored him, "Now that he's seen you're awake and active he may be able to get some rest. But if not, when you get him home I want you to knock him out. I don't want him going 24 hours without sleep."

"We're dismissed then?"

Tsunade nodded, "Iruka will recover best in a low stress environment, home is the best place for him now. As for you, well, you slept through your check-up but you're progressing well and your chakra channels are healing nicely. Another month and you should be good as new."

"So then…" Kakashi brightened

"NO chakra. I haven't given you the all clear yet, only that you've avoided further damaging them. Understood?"

Kakashi gave a grunt and slumped back into the room.

Iruka was still staring at the ceiling.

"I hear I'll be imposing on you for another month." Kakashi tried to joke

"If that's acceptable." Iruka looked worried, the silver haired jonin suddenly felt guilty.

"Of… of course." _If it's acceptable? What the hell does THAT mean?_

**************************************************************

Kakashi nodded a greeting to the ANBU stationed on Iruka's roof. _Guess that means Mizuki's still on the loose._ The thought almost made him smile. _I'll still have a chance to kill him myself then._ That thought DID make him smile.

He glanced worriedly at the chunin, who headed straight to the kitchen as they walked through the door.

"Seems we need groceries, I'll just nip out to the store and..."

"Hold it, Iruka." _Nip out to the store? Has he ever worded it like that before?_ "Tsunade said you were supposed to sleep when we got home." He pulled the bottle from his pocket. "I was ordered to have you take one of these if you couldn't get to sleep on your own. Just a couple hours." He couldn't believe how close he was to pleading.

Iruka trembled slightly, but nodded.

"Alright, but… but I want the couch. You're still recovering too, and you're my guest."

_Guest… Why did that word sting… What did I want to hear? Friend? Ah… stupid…_

"Fine fine." Kakashi shrugged, "Whatever you want. Just sleep okay."

Iruka nodded and lay down obediently, Kakashi threw a blanket over him. Then picked up a book and settled into the chair next to him.

10 minutes passed…

Iruka was fidgeting.

"Lie still, you won't fall asleep if you keep moving like that." Kakashi said, without looking up from his book.

20 minutes passed…

Iruka was lying like a stone, staring at the ceiling.

"Close your eyes, you won't fall asleep if you keep them open." Kakashi said, still engrossed in his novel.

30 minutes passed…

Iruka lay like a log, with his eyes closed. But a blind man would have been able to see he was wide awake.

With a sigh Kakashi set down his book _What am I dealing with, an oversized Naruto!?_

"I'm getting you a pill Iruka, just… lay there."

"I really don't want…"

"Doctor's orders. Isn't that what you like to tell me?"

Iruka's shoulders slumped,

"It's just to help you sleep." Kakashi said softly, he almost felt like he was talking to a child.

"I know but…" Iruka shivered,

"How will you keep an eye on me if you don't get any sleep?" Kakashi teased gently

"Right." Iruka nodded once then quickly took the small pill from Kakashi's hand and downed it with a small glass of water.

He laid back on the couch, and resumed staring at the ceiling. Kakashi tossed the blanket over him once again and sat down with his book. He couldn't concentrate on the erotic wordplay however and his grey eye kept drifting back to the chunin lying on the couch.

Slowly, Iruka's eyes began to drift shut, and his breathing deepened. Kakashi sighed in relief, and rose to go find something to eat. He rifled through the fridge, there wasn't much, and the cupboard held… _Ramen_... _of course, what did I expect. This IS the guy who practically adopted Naruto…_ Kakashi shook his head and took out a package of the dried noodles.

He contemplated waking Iruka, but decided he needed sleep more than anything, so let him be. Eating dinner in the same room was certainly a step up from the past two weeks of sitting alone, but he missed the playful banter they'd shared before Mizuki's plot had interfered.

Slightly depressed, he finished his Ramen, attempted to read, but couldn't, so called it an early night and went to bed.

*****************************************************************************

"Oi! Pervert-sennin! We could be back in Konoha by now if we didn't have to keep stopping at all these bath houses! What's this got to do with my training anyway!?"

"Shut UP Naruto! I'm trying to complete some research!"

"Pervy sage…"

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Alone on the couch, Iruka shivered.

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AN – so umm… I know like… NOTHING about poison's, antidotes, etc… so ALL that, was completely made up. But the Post-Traumatic-Stress leading to insomnia bit, I actually researched. (That's right, I did Research for this Fan-fic! Go me! I also learned that it doesn't technically count as Post-Traumatic-Stress-_Disorder_ unless the symptoms persist for more than a month. We'll see how long I drag this out.)

I knew after I started this bit that Iruka wasn't going to just be all hunky-dory… after all I did put him in excruciating pain for hours. But at the same time, I didn't want him 'physically' weakened the way Kakashi had been.

That would have been repetitive, and quite frankly, FAR too easy for my favorite emotionally-stunted jonin to deal with.

Wow, I've put a lot of chapters up today… like 4 or something… (all un-beta'd I'm afraid) But I'm having WAY too much fun writing this! And thanks SO MUCH for the reviews everyone!  
I know a lot of people complain about people who express their impatience to read the next chapter. But for me it's sort of motivational. I mean, knowing that someone is engrossed enough in what I have to write that they "just can't wait to read more" really gets my head spinning and I'm all like "Ah! I gotta get this thing moving! People have been left hanging!"

*laugh*

Not to get all mushy or anything, but you guys are GREAT! See you next chapter!


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer - Don't own

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Kakashi woke just before dawn the next morning. Silently he crept out into the living room, Iruka was still asleep. His mind flashed back to the first morning he'd spent here, how enraptured he'd been by the spell that was peacefully sleeping Iruka, but this morning was different. Something was wrong. Iruka's face was not peaceful, his brow was creased and he looked as if he were in pain, or afraid of something. The dark chunin whimpered and without realizing he'd even moved, Kakashi was kneeling beside him. But he didn't know what to do…

"Naruto…" Iruka muttered, "No! Naruto! Don't!"

"Don't what?"

"Please…" Iruka whimpered, a tear sliding down his cheek, "please… Kashi…"

Kakashi was startled, hesitantly he wiped the tear from Iruka's cheek, surprised when the chunin pressed into his hand.

"Kashi…" Iruka whimpered again

"Yeah that's right. I'm right here." He said quietly, his free hand sliding up to stroke Iruka's hair. The chunin's trembling lessened, and after several long minutes his breathing evened out again. Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief and sat back on his heels, his head reeling. _Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! I don't know what to do! _

Then he remembered, it was Thursday.

Happier now that he had their game to look forward to, he sat waiting impatiently for Iruka to wake up and cook breakfast.

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Iruka's eyes blinked open, his mind still slightly muddled from the dream before. He couldn't remember exactly what happened, but it hadn't been a good dream until… there had been a cool hand on his cheek, and someone had stroked his hair, and promised softly that were 'right here'. It had sounded like Kakashi.

He glanced over at the copy-nin fidgeting restlessly in the chair.

"It's Thursday." The copy nin said nonchalantly

"Oh. Of course. We can leave after breakfast." Iruka smiled, but again the smile failed to reach his eyes.

Kakashi felt his heart plummet…_That's not how the game goes… he's supposed to say 'So it is'… He couldn't have forgotten… could he?_

Iruka silently made them breakfast.

Kakashi silently sat at the table. _I liked it better when he hummed while cooking…_

They ate without speaking, then Iruka rinsed the dishes, and Kakashi followed him to the door.

The two nin stepped out into the sunshine and Kakashi shuffled along beside Iruka as he'd done before. But this time it was different. Iruka's tanned face didn't lift towards the sun, he didn't take a deep breath of the fresh Konoha air, he didn't warmly greet every villager they passed, he didn't smile broadly at the young children at play, or point out the younger brothers and sisters of his students… In fact… he didn't smile at all. The open, straight-backed stride Kakashi had gotten so used to strolling beside, had been replaced by much more withdrawn step. Iruka's shoulder's sagged every-so-slightly, and his eyes remained downcast, staring only at the road directly in front of him. His hands shoved deep into his pockets. He greeted no one.

Kakashi felt lost. The man in front of him wasn't Iruka. It was certainly Iruka's body, but… _it's like all the sparks been drained out of him… _

Kakashi spotted a small girl they'd passed several times before

"Hey! Iruka look! It's… it's uh… It's um… what's-her-face… you know… the little sister of… umm… uh… that kid in your class!"

"So it is." Iruka said, glancing up and smiling politely

Kakashi froze, head reeling. Iruka should have been upset by that. He'd bullied Kakashi into learning the names and faces of every brat in Konoha! Now he didn't even care when Kakashi referred to one of his precious "future students" as "what's-her-face"!?

The tiny girl stood looking sadly after Iruka, who had continued walking, seemingly unaware of Kakashi's sudden halt.

"Mr. Kakashi…what's wrong with Iruka-sensei?"

He looked down at the wispy black braids and round green eyes, and shook his head,

"Iruka-sensei's… just not himself today, Rin."

"Will he get better soon?"

Kakashi sighed, then forced a smile

"Of course he will. Say hi to Haru for us okay?"

The girl brightened and gave him a sharp nod, before dashing back into her house. Kakashi turned and hurried to catch up to Iruka.

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Kakashi spent the next three days trying to make Iruka angry.

Iruka should have yelled at him for leaving his clothes strewn about the bathroom; should have been angry about his Icha Icha novels being scattered about the living room and kitchen. He should have scolded him for not taking off his shoes at the door and CERTAINLY for putting them on the coffee table. But he said nothing, just picked up Kakashi's clothes, and put them in the hamper, wiped off the coffee table, recollected the books into neat stacks.

_Why isn't he making me clean up after myself? Why isn't he yelling at me for being a slob?_ The pain in Kakashi's chest was almost unbearable as he flopped into bed. _C'mon Iruka… Get mad… Yell at me! Hit me! Anything! Anything to show you're still in there…_ In all his life, he'd never felt so helpless… or so lost…

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The next morning Kakashi sat as he always did, waiting for Iruka to wake. The door swung open and a blonde whirlwind came crashing into the apartment. Kakashi looked up, forcing himself to smile

"Yo." He said

"Huh? What are you doing here Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi pointed to Iruka sleeping on the couch.

Naruto glanced over, and his blue eyes turned to ice.

"What… What's wrong with Iruka-sensei!? What happened to him? Who did this!?"

"I did." Kakashi said quietly,

He didn't resist as Naruto grabbed him by the throat and smashed him against the wall. His head hit with a sharp crack. _He's gotten stronger._

"What did you do to him!? What did you do to Iruka-sensei!" Naruto's eyes blazed, and Kakashi saw the tears forming in the corners of his eyes. _I'm sorry Naruto… _

"He was poisoned."

"How!" the blonde demanded, his kunai still against Kakashi's throat.

"A poisoned kunai was thrown at me. But Iruka took it instead."

Naruto slackened his grip, noticing for the first time the pain in Kakashi's grey eye.

"Baka." He said dropping his hands to his sides, he stared at the floor. "It wasn't your fault…" He sniffed loudly and looked towards his first mentor, "He did that for me too."

Iruka trembled in his sleep.

Naruto shot Kakashi a glare, "Why aren't you helping him."

"I…" Kakashi couldn't meet the blondes eyes, "I don't know what to do."

"Stupid. He's scared. You have to comfort him. Like this!" He grabbed Kakashi's wrist and pulled him to the couch, he carefully pulled the unconscious chunin into a sitting position. "Sit." He said, dumbfounded, Kakashi did as he was told.

Naruto pulled Iruka onto Kakashi's lap. The jonin sat like a rock. Naruto looked frustrated, "Baka! You have to hold him!"

Kakashi swallowed

"Hold him?"

"Yeah, like this!" Naruto pulled one of Kakashi's arms out from under Iruka and draped it across the teacher, pulling the copy-nin's hand up to rest on a tanned arm. With minor difficultly he maneuvered Kakashi's other arm into position, curling his hand around Iruka's shoulder.

"Yeah, like that!" Naruto smiled at his handiwork …_Iruka-sensei looks good with him…_ he almost blushed at that thought, "Oh! And rub your thumb in little circles, like this." He demonstrated.

"Why?"

Naruto shrugged, "It's what Iruka-sensei used to do… to make me feel better. Look see, he's relaxing already!"

Kakashi glanced down, it was true. Iruka's trembling had stopped, and his face looked as peaceful as it had that first morning.

"See!" Naruto grinned giving Kakashi a thumbs up, "He likes you!"

Outside, Jiraiya's gruff voice could be heard,

"uh oh, looks like I gotta go."

"Iruka will want to see you."

"I'll be back for dinner. Ichiraku's! My treat!" he grinned dashing for the door, "And Kakashi-sensei…" He grinned as he slipped on his sandals, "You better take good care of Iruka-sensei this time! I'll be checking!"

Kakashi couldn't help but grin… _I just got bed-side manner lessons from Naruto… Never thought I'd see that happen… _He pulled down his mask and planted a chaste kiss on Iruka's forehead, the tanned chunin smiled softly and snuggled closer against him. _If this is what it takes to get you back Iruka… well… this isn't so bad…_

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^w^ see you next chapter!


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer - Don't own

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Iruka woke almost an hour later. He felt warm… safe… he kept his eyes closed, and snuggled closer to the source of the warmth. If this was a dream, it was the first good one he'd had in ages. It was rejuvenating, as his senses slowly cleared from the sleeps fog, he could make out a warm weight, draped across his stomach, and a steady _b-bmp… _like that of a heart beat. Something traced soft, soothing circles on the back of his shoulder, and he could feel the gentle rising and falling of the chest he was snuggled against. _Wait… chest!? Chest! Heart-beat! Arm! _His eyes snapped open, _KAKASHI!?!?!!!_

"Yo." The jonin smiled, _He's blushing! He's blushing! Iruka's blushing! _The copy-nin almost leapt off the couch.

"Ka… Kakashi!?" Iruka squeaked, trying to sit up, but the jonin held him fast

"Did you sleep well?"

"Fine… thank you…If... umm…you'll excuse me." He wiggled away and rushed to the bathroom.

Kakashi grinned, and slipped his mask back up over his face.

_He probably should have yelled at me for embarrassing him like that… But he's blushing again! That's a start!_

Iruka's blush remained as he made breakfast, and the constant glances he threw in Kakashi's direction were not lost on the happily humming jonin seated at his table.

Iruka served breakfast, but then spent most of the meal staring absently out the window.

"Naruto stopped by."

"He's back?" the chunin brightened momentarily at the mention of his favorite hellion

"Yeah, says he's taking us to dinner. Ramen. His treat."

"Is that so?" Iruka had slipped back into his funk and was staring out the window again.

**********************************************************************

Kakashi was bored. This new Iruka wasn't as much fun as the old Iruka. He spent the day trying to get Iruka to blush again. But failed miserably, as every time he attempted to get close to the chunin, Iruka would move away.

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A loud knocking came on the door and before either nin could move to open it, it swung open and Naruto bounded inside.

"Iruka-sensei! Kakashi-sensei!" the boy hollered, throwing himself at his two seated sensei's and knocking the couch over backwards. He flinched as he waited for the smack he knew was coming. Slowly he opened his eyes, staring at Iruka, Kakashi was staring at him too. As Naruto hopped off, the three nin righted the couch. Then he pulled Kakashi into the bedroom, and shut the door.

"Why didn't Iruka-sensei hit me? He ALWAYS hits me… He didn't even yell at me for being hard on the furniture!?!"

Kakashi sighed and shook his head,

"I've been trying to get him to yell at me for four days now…"

Naruto's jaw dropped

"Four days! Iruka-sensei hasn't yelled in four days!"

"Longer than that…" Kakashi shook his head.

Iruka was sitting on the couch again. When he noticed Kakashi and Naruto peeking out the bedroom door at him, he gave a polite smile, then went back to staring off into space.

"Jiraiya says we'll only be here for 3 or 4 days, while he does 'research'" Naruto rolled his eyes, then looked serious again "We have to get Iruka-sensei back to normal before then." His mischievous mind set to ticking.

"He blushed this morning." Kakashi offered helpfully,

"Iruka-sensei blushes all the time. Watch." Naruto marched into the living room until he was standing directly in front of Iruka. "Sexy no jutsu!" he yelled, transforming. His feminine pigtailed self blew a seductive kiss at Iruka, who seemed to be staring straight through him.

Nothing.

Naruto slumped back to Kakashi, defeated. "That always works! But he didn't do anything! Didn't even call me an idiot!"

Kakashi nodded. Naruto's sexy-no-jutsu was certainly a force to be reckoned with.

"How'd YOU get him to blush Kakashi-sensei?"

"This morning when he woke up and found himself where you'd put him… he blushed then."

"Hmm…" Naruto's mind set to work.

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Dinner at Ichiraku's Ramen Bar saw a collaboration of efforts on the part of Naruto and Kakashi. Behavior that got them no reaction from Iruka, but eventually got them kicked out of Ichiraku's.

Kakashi's head was spinning, and not just from the rice wine.

How could Iruka NOT notice how drunk he'd gotten!? Or the fact that he'd been slipping Naruto sake the entire time!? He hadn't even reacted when the two had burst into "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall". On that note, Kakashi was SURE there was something between 87 and 49, but he couldn't remember what.

"S'not… S'not like him at all!" Naruto whined as they staggered out into the street.

Kakashi nodded, then instantly regretted it, as the world tilted wildly, he steadied himself on a nearby wall.

Stumbling and cursing, Kakashi and Naruto trailed Iruka back to his apartment and followed him inside.

"I get th'… th'… th' couch!" Naruto slurred staggering over and flopping down face first into the space between the couch and the coffee table…

Kakashi burst into laughter and moved to pick his former student off the floor. Iruka sat down in the chair.

"I guess that means you're sharing the bed with me." He grinned at Iruka. "But first!" he slammed down the mostly full bottle of sake on the coffee table. "You haven't had anything to drink!"

"I'm fine. Thank you." Iruka said quietly, eyeing Naruto with the mild concern that a stranger might eye a crying child who's mother was already running to its side.

_Well, at least he's finally noticed the poor kid. _Kakashi thought.

He was frustrated… And Drunk…

Frustrated and drunk and with bottle in hand he clambered into Iruka's lap and forced the bottle between the surprised chunin's lips.

Iruka choked and sputtered, prompting Kakashi stopped dumping perfectly good sake down his face.

"Drink." The grey eyed jonin ordered, shoving the bottle into Iruka's face.

Iruka sighed and took the bottle.

Somewhere in the back of Kakashi's mind he thought, _Good sake is meant to be sipped… not downed like this… but what the hell!_

"Drink more!" Kakashi ordered, tipping the bottle up and the draining it down Iruka's throat.

The chunin coughed a few more times, and after several minutes his face had flushed a brilliant crimson.

_Lightweight eh? _Kakashi smiled, there was something unbelievably endearing about a man who turned into a tomato after half a bottle of sake.

Iruka coughed again, and gently pushed Kakashi off his lap, the jonin rolled and came to rest sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"Where are you going?" Kakashi asked, as he watched Iruka stagger towards the kitchen.

"Pill… sleep…"

"Oh right… Good idea…" He nodded.

Iruka held the counter for support and reached for the pills. Somewhere in the alcohol induced fog of Kakashi's brain, warning signals started going off.

"Iruka! Stop!" Instantly sober, Kakashi was across the room in a heartbeat. He smacked the small medicine bottle from Iruka's hand and into the sink.

The two nin watched dismally as Tsunade's sleep remedy spiraled down the drain.

Kakashi sighed in relief.

Iruka just sighed.

Then sat down on the floor, and began to cry.

_Dear Kami... he's a lightweight…And an overly-emotional drunk._ He sighed, remembering what Naruto had taught him that morning. He slid down next to Iruka, sliding an arm around the now sobbing chunin, pulling him tightly against him.

"Ruka…" he said softly, "Ruka what's wrong?"

"I… I won't be able to sleep now! And…" Tears streamed down his flushed cheeks

"And what?" Kakashi prodded gently, his thumb gently rubbing small circles on the back of Iruka's shoulder.

"And… I keep having nightmares! Every night! I keep seeing Mi… Mizuki… and… Naruto and!" he buried his face in Kakashi's shirt. Kakashi's arms tightened around him, he rested his pale cheek on the dark hair.

"Iruka! It's okay. I'm here! So's Naruto! Everything's fine!"

"No it's not!" Iruka wailed

"Yes it is! We'll catch Mizuki… He won't hurt you again." _He'll never get the chance to… _Kakashi swore to himself, "Everything's fine."

"It isn't!"

"What's not fine?"

"I… I'm…" Iruka's tear-filled eyes looked up at him

Kakashi waited

"I'm going to throw up."

Kakashi barely managed to haul the tanned chunin to his feet and lean him over the sink.

After Iruka had finished emptying the contents of his stomach, Kakashi handed him a glass of water and then led him to the bathroom. He pulled his soiled shirt off his head and pushed him into the shower. Iruka offered no resistance as Kakashi turned on the water and, after stripping, stepped in beside him.

"Kashi…" Iruka mumbled, his head still muddled, "why are you naked?"

"You will be too." Kakashi muttered, and tugged Iruka's pants down to his ankles. "Step." He ordered. Iruka nearly fell over, and only Kakashi's quick reflexes kept him from crashing headfirst out of the tub.

Satisfied that any remnants of vomit had been washed from both of them, Kakashi led a staggering Iruka to the bedroom, and pushed him to the mattress.

"Kashi?"

"Sleep Iruka you need it." _Hell, I need it._ He thought ruefully. His eye glanced over Iruka's still dripping body, and he swallowed hard as the heat formed in his gut. Chocolate brown eyes attempted to focus on his face. _Dammit! If I was still drunk it wouldn't be taking advantage of him!_ Kakashi buried his face in a pillow.

"I'm cold…" Iruka shivered.

_Kami give me self-control!! _

Kakashi reached down and pulled the sheets over both of them before curling his arm around Iruka and pulling him close against his chest. Within seconds, Iruka was fast asleep. Kakashi on the other hand… lay awake for hours before finally drifting off.

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Kakashi woke the next morning with a tanned hand clamped around his throat and a livid chunin glaring down from on top of him.

"KAKASHI!" Iruka roared "WHY AM I NAKED!!"

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I had a roommate who was an "emotional drunk"  
Personally, I can't see a reason for getting smashed if it's only going to depress you.

Ah well, This chapter was fun to write anyway. Especially the Naruto bits. ^w^


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer - Don't Own

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Kakashi was instantly awake. _He's yelling at me!? He's YELLING AT ME!!!_ Kakashi's face split into a grin.

"You! YOU BASTARD! WHAT DID YOU _**DO**_ TO ME!?"Iruka's cheeks were flushed and the anger burning in his chocolate eyes may very well have been the most beautiful thing Kakashi had ever seen. "Why am I naked!? And WHY AM I IN BED WITH **YOU**!?!!"

Kakashi grinned again, and shrugged

"Maa… There are worse people in the world to wake up next to."

"What happened last night… I demand a straight answer!"

Kakashi grinned again,

"We had a couple drinks." Kakashi slipped a leg behind Iruka's knee and with a quick twist of his arm, reversed their positions.

"I don't drink." Iruka growled from beneath him. He looked slightly embarrassed "I can't…"

"Hold your liquor? I noticed." Kakashi snickered.

His grey traced over Iruka, memorizing every feature of the chunin's tanned face, and a pale hand reached up to gently trace the scar across the bridge of Iruka's nose.

"Kakashi?" he asked quietly, almost breathlessly

"Sorry." Kakashi's eye was gentler than Iruka had ever seen it. He watched as it closed softly and Kakashi's forehead came to rest against his own. He only just made out the copy-nins words, spoken in barely a whisper, "I missed you."

A groaning came from the living room. Kakashi sat up.

"Ah, sounds like Naruto's awake. Wonder how he's feeling this morning?"

He felt Iruka stiffen beneath him.

"You didn't!" he hissed

"Didn't what?" Kakashi asked innocently

"You! You gave him alcohol didn't you!"

Kakashi grinned sheepishly

"BAKA! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! **DEAD**! DO YOU HEAR ME!" Iruka threw Kakashi off him and barreled into the living room, dragging the sheet with him as he went. Kakashi grabbed his mask from the headboard, and apart from the cloth covering the lower half of his face, skipped happily naked after the fuming teacher.

Iruka knelt beside a miserably groaning Naruto, trying to push a glass of water on the boy who refused to remove his head from below a pillow.

"I'm dying…" the unfortunate blonde groaned

"No… No you're not." Iruka said gently,

Kakashi grinned, and yanked the pillow off Naruto's head

"Drink the water, it'll help."

Naruto's blue eyes opened just the barest of slits,

"Turn off the sun!" he moaned, "Too bright!" Kakashi laughed and moved to draw the shade across the window, while Iruka coaxed the suffering teen into drinking a glass of water. The room significantly darkened, Naruto half opened his eyes, noticing hazily that his "adoptive-father" was dressed in a sheet gripped around his waist, while his second sensei stood all but naked behind him, grinning smugly.

"Gah! Why are you naked!" Naruto wailed, then stiffened, glaring as hard as his pounding head would allow at Kakashi he gasped "Kakashi you bastard! You did something dirty to Iruka-sensei didn't you!? I'll… ugh…. I'll kill you!"

Iruka's face flushed brilliant crimson as he realized the train of thought his former student had taken. _I knew training with Jiraiya was bad for his mind!_

Kakashi meanwhile had grabbed Iruka around the waist and held him fast in front of him.

"What the hell are you doing!" Iruka yelled

"I'm using you for a black box." Kakashi smiled innocently

"PUT ME DOWN!"

"Urrgghhh…" Naruto moaned

"How cruel Iruka-sensei, making loud noises right next to a hang-over victim." Kakashi tutted. _If looks could kill…_ he grinned at the glare Iruka gave him.

"Bedroom… Now…" Iruka hissed

Kakashi was only too happy to oblige.

After closing the door, Kakashi was quick to dodge the punch Iruka sent at his throat. The chunin did indeed look ready to make good on his promise to kill him.

"What… happened… last… night…" The chunin looked as if he were struggling to regain self control, Kakashi grinned, "You had better start talking! NOW!" Iruka yelled, snapping again.

"We had a couple drinks." Kakashi shrugged

"With NARUTO!?!"

"It'd have been a shame to leave him out." Kakashi snorted

"He's a minor!"

"He's got to learn sometime." Kakashi said with another shrug

"YOU!! YOU IRRESPONSIBLE!! REPREHENSIBLE!! BASTARD!! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!" Iruka lunged but Kakashi was too quick and flipped the chunin onto the bed, then plopped down beside him, and pulling down his mask, continued speaking as if his listener wasn't trying to glare holes through his head.

"After that you cried on me for a bit. Then you threw up on me. Then you tried to give yourself a concussion falling out of the shower, while I tried to wash you up. Then you went to sleep." He rolled over and his arms snaked around Iruka, pulling him tightly to his chest… "Like this." Iruka stiffened, and Kakashi smiled, and softly nuzzled the nape of Iruka's neck.

Iruka shot of the bed and went stumbling through the door.

Kakashi swallowed his disappointed, and rose to follow. Now that he had Iruka back and yelling at him, he wasn't about to let him run off. Not that he expected Iruka to get far, wearing just a sheet, but he wasn't taking any chances. The bathroom door stood open and Iruka knelt, carefully collecting the vomit splattered garments and depositing them in the hamper.

Iruka glanced up as Kakashi leaned against the doorway. His mask had been replaced and his grey eye was no longer teasing. He almost looked hurt.

"I… I really did get sick on you didn't I?"

Kakashi nodded and took a step closer.

"And you didn't…" Iruka flushed

It was Kakashi's turn to look angry.

"You believe I'm that despicable?" he growled, closing the distance between them.

Iruka took an involuntary step backwards, his back pressed against cold tile

"You think I'm twisted enough to take an unwilling man just because I got him drunk?"

"I… I didn't say I was unwilling…" Iruka's voice was barely more than a whisper, and it wasn't until he saw the change in Kakashi's eye that it registered what he'd said.

"I… I didn't say I was either!" he added desperately, as his cheeks burned brilliant crimson.

"Is that so?" _Kami, he's beautiful… _

Kakashi's face was only inches from his own. Even through the mask he could feel the jonin's hot breath on his lips. Iruka placed a shaking hand on Kakashi's chest, the copy-nin didn't press farther. Then, tentatively, he let the sheet fall as he reached up with both hands to pull down Kakashi's mask.

Kakashi's hand slid behind his head, cradling it against the hard tile as he pressed him back against the wall, crushing the chunin's mouth under his own. His tongue played along Iruka's lower lip, teasingly begging entrance. With a soft moan Iruka's lips parted and Kakashi deepened the kiss. His entire body tingling with the sensation of a responsive Iruka pinned against him. As his tongue explored the inside of Iruka's mouth, Iruka's hands danced lightly down the contours of his back, and the copy-nin smiled …_Mine…_

It was at that moment the door swung open and a haggard Naruto stumbled through the door. The blonde took one look at his naked sensei's embraced against the wall, then turned to the toilet and was sick.

Iruka leaned up and nipped Kakashi sharply on the ear.

"I'm still going to kill you."

Kakashi grinned

"Maa…" he shrugged, as Iruka stepped past him and knelt to comfort the boy.

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*laugh* I wrote this with my boyfriend peeking over my shoulder. He doesn't share the same enthusiasm for yaoi/shonen-ai that I do...

ah well,

see you next chapter!


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer - don't own

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Iruka knelt beside Naruto, softly rubbing his back as the moaning blonde whimpered his prayers to the porcelain gods.

"Why…" Naruto gagged, "Are you both… still… naked!"

Iruka blushed again, Kakashi shrugged and wandered back towards the bedroom, Iruka handed Naruto a glass of water before following him. Iruka slipped into his pants and began sliding his arms into a shirt when an arm wrapped around him and pulled him tightly against Kakashi's chest.

"I wasn't finished." He purred

"You can't be serious! You just spent the last three minutes watching Naruto empty his stomach!"

"Hnn. He shouldn't have drank so much."

"He… YOU'RE THE ONE WHO GAVE IT TO HIM!!" Iruka rammed his shirt down and huffed out of the room.

Kakashi grinned, finished dressing, and meandered out into the living room, where he promptly flopped into the chair.

Naruto was in the process of burrowing under the couch cushions as Iruka kneeled helplessly beside it, trying to get the teen to drink another glass of water.

"You really need to re-hydrate Naruto. It'll help the hang-over pass more quickly."

"Go-way Iruka-sensei. I'm already buried, just let me die in peace."

Kakashi snorted a laugh, earning him a sharp glare from Iruka. He quickly buried his nose in a book to hide the grin he was sure Iruka would notice, despite his mask.

Iruka sighed and stood.

"I'm going to run to the store to get some food for breakfast."

Kakashi set down his book,

"I'll go with you."

"No. You" he jabbed him sharply in the chest, "Will stay HERE, and look after Naruto."

"Why? He's not gonna go anywhere with THAT hang-over."

"YOU ARE THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS CURRENT CONDITION AND YOU WILL LOOK AFTER HIM UNTIL HE RECOVERS!"

"Aaaagggghhhh" Naruto wailed from under the seat cushions

Iruka shot another warning glance at Kakashi and then headed out.

Kakashi listened to the lumpy looking couch whimper and for another minute or so before moving to the kitchen and rummaging around for 'ingredients'.

Noisily.

In unnecessary cupboards.

Like the one with all the pots and pans in it.

He ran over a list in his brain, _olive oil… ketchup… vinegar… Worcestershire… Tabasco… salt, pepper and an egg. _He opened the fridge and glanced inside, _No egg. Ah well. Iruka will pick some up. _His conscience eased now that he'd done _something_ to ease his student's suffering, Kakashi put his half completed remedy in the fridge and went back to his book.

Only to find he couldn't concentrate. He kept glancing towards the door, _Iruka should be back by now. No. I'm just being paranoid. He only left 5 minutes ago, he won't have even reached the store yet. But…_ Kakashi couldn't forget that the last time Iruka had gone grocery shopping alone, he hadn't come back.

"stay there." He said to the miserable couch, then slipped out the door.

Darting along the rooftops, it didn't take him long to catch up to Iruka, who was stopping to greet and exchange pleasantries with almost every parent on the street. Finally reaching the grocery store, Iruka began picking through vegetables and loaves of bread. Kakashi appeared beside him,

"We need eggs."

"What! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" several startled shoppers looked over in alarm. Iruka flushed apologetically, then speared Kakashi with a scathing glare, "You're supposed to be watching Naruto!"

"What's to watch? He's just a miserable moaning…" Kakashi thought back to the way he'd left Naruto, "couch." He finished, with a grin.

Iruka glared again, but collected a carton of eggs. Then hurried through the rest of his shopping, all the while fighting the urge to throttle the jonin shambling along beside him.

They returned to Iruka's apartment where Kakashi promptly dropped the egg yolk into his earlier concoction and mercilessly drug Naruto off the couch.

"Drink this." He said handing the glass to the only half-conscious blonde

"Don't feed him raw…!"

Naruto downed the glass

"egg…" Iruka finished to himself, "What did you just feed him?"

"Prairie Oyster!" Kakashi smiled proudly, returning to the kitchen with the glass as Naruto slithered back under the couch cushions.

Iruka eyed the glass,

"That's disgusting."

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Three days later saw Naruto heading off to resume his training with Jiraiya. As he walked out Iruka's door he turned blue eyes to Kakashi,

"You better not do anything to Iruka-sensei!"

"Do…" Iruka blushed, "Idiot!" a well aimed refrigerator magnet bounced off Naruto's skull as the blonde dashed out the door.

Iruka smiled sadly as he watched him go.

_He really loves that moron…_ Kakashi slipped an arm around Iruka's waist, pulling him against him. "You okay?" he asked softly.

Iruka nodded, "yeah." He smiled at the grey eyed jonin, "He's certainly grown, hasn't he?"

Kakashi smiled, "Yeah. Sure has."

Then with a mischievous grin he scooped up Iruka and hauled him towards the bedroom.

"Kakashi! Wait! Put me down! HEY!"

Kakashi shook his head and dumped Iruka unceremoniously on the bed. "You wouldn't let me touch you while Naruto was here. But he's off training now, so I get to pick up where we left off three days ago..." He tugged on Iruka's shirt, "and I believe you were naked."

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Thanks for reading everyone!

Sadly, SAS is drawing to it's close as I am currently working on the final chapter, possibly two chapters.  
This was, more or less, a "get-together" fic about Kakashi and Iruka and now that they're together, well, I accomplished what I set out to do. And to drag it out too much further would be to risk burning out and letting the story fall into some uninspired, repetitive monstrosity of epic proportions. As good as this fic has been to me, I just can't allow that.

I doubt that the end of Stand Alone Scarecrow will be the end of my KakaIru fanfics though, I just had too much fun with it!

Thanks so much for all your support everyone!

See you next chapter!


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer- don't own

----------------------------------

FINAL CHAPTER!

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TIME SKIP – roughly 2 weeks after Naruto's departure = Last Day of Kakashi's "recovery period"

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Chocolate brown eyes blinked open and Iruka rolled over. He smiled at the man sleeping beside him. The lightening sky was still caught in the hazy pre-dawn gray. Iruka smiled again, in the past few months, he'd come to love the color gray.

Kakashi's shock of silver hair lay against the pillow, both his mask and hitai-ite hung on the headboard, allowing Iruka to revel in one of the few moments where his lovers face lay completely unguarded. _He looks so peaceful when he sleeps… almost innocent…_ He almost laughed at that thought. Hatake the copy-nin Kakashi was anything but innocent, the dull ache in Iruka's lower back could attest to that.

"Like what you see?" Kakashi asked without opening his eyes

"Better when I thought you were still sleeping." Iruka teased, running a tanned finger down the scar across Kakashi's eye, then trailing down his cheek, "How long have you been awake" he asked as Kakashi lightly kissed the finger moving softly over his lips.

"I woke when you did."

"I barely moved!"

Kakashi grinned, his eyes still closed, "I heard the change in your breathing."

Iruka shook his head. It always amazed him the way Kakashi could be fully alert, even unconscious.

"Breakfast?" he asked,

"Not yet." Kakashi rolled over on top of him, cracking open a grey eye, he smiled and kissed Iruka lightly on the nose before snuggling down on top of the slightly smaller man to drift back to sleep.

Iruka sighed, a hand drifting up to twist and twirl in the silver hair now flopped across his chest. He watched out the window as the last misty remnants of the lingering night gave way to the pale blush of the birthing sunrise.

"It'll be a nice day." He said quietly

"Shh! Ruka, go back to sleep." Kakashi muttered, then looked up, chin propped on Iruka's tanned chest, "unless you've already recovered from last night." He grinned mischievously, sliding a thigh between Iruka's legs to press again him, "recovered enough at least."

Iruka blushed redder than the rising sun, "It's.. IT'S JUST THE MORNING!" he cried, attempting to shove Kakashi off him. But the grinning jonin pinned him fast,

"Oh, I don't know, round 2 sounds like a good way to start my morning.

"R…Round 2!?" Iruka sputtered, "Didn't we go till like… round 6, last night!?"

Kakashi chuckled, "Did we? Remind me… Where'd we start?"

Iruka sighed, but couldn't suppress his grin. "You jumped me in the shower, remember?"

Kakashi snorted, "Oh right." He chuckled as the image of a naked dripping Iruka, backed into a corner, trying in vain to cover himself with loufa, swam back into his mind. And the seductive way in which he'd welcomed his bath-mate; chocolate eyes wide, hair loose and streaming down his neck, yelling at the top of his lungs "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?!" It hadn't taken a terrible amount of persuading however, before he had Iruka pinned against the wall, moaning his name.

Still smirking Kakashi began to nibble on Iruka's ear. The chunin squirmed, "Stop, that tickles."

"Nnn Where'd we go after we were all clean? Stop wiggling."

"I can't. You're tickling me. I went to the kitchen to make dinner, you stole my towel and we… Oh great, the table. I'll have to clean that before we eat on it again."

Kakashi chuckled into Iruka's ear, making the chunin squirm harder. _THAT_ had been exquisite. Iruka's lean, tanned body bent across the kitchen table, Kakashi nuzzling the contour between his shoulder blades, a pale hand wrapped around the flat planes of his stomach, himself, buried to the hilt between a pair of perfectly formed cheeks, the sound of his name ripping from the chunin's throat as he hit Iruka's prostate and sent the chunin over the edge.

"And then…" he prodded nuzzling down Iruka's neck,

"The couch. And I'm still positive I heard one of the legs snap."

"Maa, you need a new on anyway. Where next…"

"Here."

"And then…"

"Well, I wanted to go take another shower. But we only got as far as the living room floor."

"Oh that's right." Kakashi smiled, Iruka had put up a considerable fight for dominance during that one, and while he was still the one impaled, he had managed to wind up on top.

Iruka sighed and planted a kiss on the top of Kakashi's head,

"Then I gave up on practicing good hygiene and stumbled back in here, where you kept me awake for at least another hour."

Kakashi grinned,

"Hnn. You have very impressive stamina."

Iruka blushed, "I could say the same for you."

Kakashi's hand traced down Iruka's abdomen, wrapping lightly around his member, the chunin moaned softly and arched into his hand, before coming back to himself.

"No! Kashi…" he moaned breathlessly, "breakfast."

"You taste better than breakfast." Kakashi smirked his tongue trailing down Iruka's neck.

"But… Ah! Kashi! I'm hungry!"

"Hnnn." Kakashi slid his tongue between Iruka's lips, battling for dominance inside the smaller man's mouth, as his fingers teased over tanned hips.

As if on cue, Iruka's stomach growled. Kakashi let his head droop melodramatically, and with a sigh he rolled off the pre-genin teacher.

"Besides…" Iruka said sitting up carefully, "I think I'm too sore for Round 7." A tanned hand rubbed his lower back, and he pushed himself to his feet with groan. Moving like an old man, Iruka pulled on pair of pants and shambled, slightly hunched, a hand still on his lower back, towards the kitchen.

Kakashi watched him go, grinning like a fiend the entire time. When he heard Iruka in the kitchen, washing the table no doubt, he flopped back onto his pillow. He'd had sex in the past, sure, long missions got lonely, nin had needs, but he'd never made-love like that.

Iruka had surprised him, in more ways than one. The chunin's shy cries in the shower, had been like a kittens. Soft and gentle as the water that had run down their sweating bodies. But Kakashi had almost lost the battle for dominance on the living room floor, _For him to still have that much energy…_ Kakashi shook his head. Just remembering the low, guttural moan of a lustful Iruka crying out his name was enough to make him hard. He pushed the thought away before the heat forming deep in his gut could make getting out of bed any more troublesome than it already was.

He pulled on pants and tied his hitai-ite over his eye, then meandered languidly into the kitchen where he slouched into a chair.

Iruka set down a plate of hash-browns and eggs in front of him.

"Thanks." He grinned,

Iruka nodded, smiling, but then grimaced as he pulled out his own chair, and wincing slightly, sat down.

Kakashi couldn't help the smug smile that traced across his lips.

"Sorry." He said apologetically munching a bite of the potatoes.

Iruka gave a rueful grin, "You can give me a hot bath to make up for it."

Kakashi perked up,

"And let me enjoy it In Peace!" Iruka added.

Kakashi pouted, but he hadn't missed the gleam in Iruka's eye.

Twenty minutes later found them both in the bathtub. Iruka lay back against Kakashi's chest, his dark hair loose and falling loosely to his shoulders, framing his face in soft earthy tendrils. Kakashi smiled, one arm curled around Iruka, while the other sat propped on the tubs edge, holding the Icha Icha volume Iruka had returned to him three months ago. Today was his last day on probation. He and Iruka hadn't talked about it. Hadn't talked about what they'd do... Iruka would be returning to his class on Monday, but where would he go? Back out into the field he supposed. He sighed.

"What's wrong?" Iruka asked, craning his neck to give Kakashi a concerned glance

Kakashi dropped his chin down to rest in the crook of Iruka's neck.

"It's Thursday" he said

Iruka smiled

"Is that so?"

"It's sunny."

"Hmm… how about that."

"It's sunny and Thursday."

Iruka chuckled, "Is there something special about sunny Thursdays?"

Kakashi grinned.

*****************************************************************************

Kakashi was over 4 hours late for his final "check-up". Shizune glanced nervously at the blonde who stood at the window, tapping her foot.

"That brat." She muttered

"Umm… Tsunade?"

"C'mon Shizune. Let's go get him ourselves."

"Do you know where he is?"

Konoha's 5th Hokage nodded, "Of course." Tonton trotting at their heels, Shizune followed Tsunade out into the late afternoon sun.

As they came within view of the monument, Shizune recognized a familiar shock of silver hair, waving gently in the breeze at the top of the hill. She sighed softly.

"What is it?" Tsunade asked

"I guess scarecrows really _do_ stand alone." She said sadly

The blonde smiled, and pointing said, "Look again. Can't you see the little dolphin, swimming upstream?"

Shizune followed Tsunade's finger, till she spotted the tanned chunin, dozing in the shade of a tree at the base of the hill. They watched Kakashi descend the hill, Iruka stood and stretched stiffly, and the two began to stroll, smiling, towards where Tsunade and her assistant waited.

"Tsunade-sama! Shizune!" Iruka grinned,

Shizune met Iruka's eyes with an apologetic smile, and Iruka's grin faltered.

Tsunade said nothing for moment, then pulled out a scroll,

"I have a mission for you."

*****************************************************************************

Well, there you have it everyone!

The very last chapter of Stand Alone Scarecrow!

I knew when this scene popped into my head that it was the end. It just… felt _right_ that way. I know a lot of people don't like hanging endings, and a lot was left un-resolved (Mizuki, for example, any changes or lack there-of concerning living arangments). But I was sort of happy that this particular story closed on one because it's given me the opportunity to start on a second story, that essentially picks up where SAS left off.

But I've also started playing around with a Hakkai/Gojyo fic. So, depending on which one decides to move along faster, I'll either be posting a Saiyuki fic, or I'll be running with the continuation of SAS in another Naruto fic tentatively titled "Swimming Upstream". Which I like to think of as SAS Part II and NOT a "sequel" because "sequels" have this horrible reputation for never being as good as the original and I'm hoping that my writing will Improve and not Degrade as I go along.

As this is the first fan-fiction I've ever written I really didn't expect it to last as long as it did, and I certainly didn't expect the reader-response that I received. You guys are FANTASTIC! Thank you so much!

Hope to see you all again in "Swimming"!

-ChiriChi916


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